Columbia Falls awards River's Edge fishing-pier contract to Mountain Trades Contracting

Columbia Falls — After reviewing bids and answering public questions about bid disparities, the City Council voted Feb. 17 to award the River's Edge fishing-pier contract to Mountain Trades Contracting.

City staff said the engineer's estimate for the pier and slab alternatives was about $140,000. The apparent low bidder prompted a resident to ask whether a significantly lower bid usually indicates a problem; the resident said, "If someone's that much lower than somebody else, there's usually a very serious issue. Why?" The manager and the engineers said they had performed reference checks and were confident in the low bidder's capability.

A councilor moved to award the contract to Mountain Trades Contracting for the line-item amount stated during the motion; the council approved the motion by roll call with Councilors Piper, Price, Robinson and King and Mayor Barnhart voting 'Aye.' Staff said the procurement process was competitive and the engineers recommended proceeding with notice of award.

The award follows staff and engineering review of bids that ranged widely; councilors noted the disparity can reflect market factors and contractor availability. City staff said the contract will proceed under standard city procurement and inspection processes.

Next steps include finalizing the contract documents and scheduling work to take advantage of low water conditions, per staff.