Gilliam County approves $214,905 engineering amendment for Cedar Springs bypass permitting and mitigation

Gilliam County Court voted Feb. 4 to approve Amendment 1 to an engineering services contract with Anderson Perry, adding $214,905 to the project budget to fund additional environmental and permitting work for the Cedar Springs Lane relocation project.

County staff and the engineering consultant told the court that updated wetland delineation identified roughly 3 acres of wetland impacts in the proposed corridor adjacent to the railroad, and that mitigation will likely require creating about 5 acres of replacement wetland or paying in‑lieu fees. Updated FEMA floodplain mapping introduced additional constraints: the county needs a no‑rise certification and a floodplain development permit, and designs that raise the road would expand the project footprint and therefore increase mitigation needs and costs.

An engineer advising the court said the team planned hydraulic and soils testing to confirm candidate mitigation sites and avoid constructing mitigation that would fail monitoring requirements. Commissioners said the bypass is necessary for public‑safety and economic reasons — to avoid long train delays at the existing crossing and to allow future deliveries and development adjacent to the landfill — and they authorized the additional scope to keep the project on schedule.

A commissioner moved to approve the amendment and another seconded; the court approved the increase by voice vote. The motion and vote were recorded as a voice 'Aye' in the minutes (no roll‑call tally was recorded in the transcript).

Next steps outlined by staff include completing DSL (Department of State Lands) coordination on wetland delineation, pursuing the floodplain development/no‑rise analyses, completing a mitigation plan or pay‑in‑lieu estimate, and preparing a joint permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state agencies. Staff said they will forward preliminary reports to the governor’s office and to local contacts who may help expedite review.

The court instructed staff to continue coordination among Anderson Perry, permitting agencies and local stakeholders and to keep commissioners updated as reports and permit milestones are available.