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Cowlitz County commissioners approve energy-audit reimbursement and several infrastructure contracts
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Summary
The board approved a $252,250 addition to an energy-audit agreement for the Hall of Justice, awarded landfill and pavement contracts, and authorized a $143,000 IT upgrade to the county's food-safety system funded by a public-health grant.
The Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a set of consent and motion items that included an added reimbursement for a Hall of Justice energy audit, multiple landfill contracts, an award for countywide pavement overlays and a contract to update the county's food-safety permitting system.
The board authorized an amendment to the energy-audit agreement administered through the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) that adds $252,250, bringing the total contract value to $350,000 to cover the cost of the Hall of Justice audit. Chair (speaker 1) said the audit was part of a grant process; Susan Eugenis, county engineer, said the work fulfilled energy-efficiency requirements for large public buildings and that recent HVAC and lighting upgrades at the Hall of Justice were tied to the audit. "They have come back and said, hey, Cowlitz County, you did a great job and are ahead of the game," Eugenis said, describing the additional reimbursement.
Commissioner (speaker 4) questioned the size of the audit and whether the county would see measurable savings. Eugenis said the audit supported decisions that led to the HVAC and lighting upgrades and noted the county will monitor energy usage on scheduled dates to assess actual savings.
On landfill operations the board approved a bid award for reinforced geomembrane covers to Northwest Linings and GeoTextile Products at a total cost of $98,000 for materials used on landfill cells. The board also approved a personal services agreement with Shelton Engineering Solutions LLC for landfill gas management, testing and monitoring services through Dec. 31, 2028, with a not-to-exceed amount of $407,000. Eugenis said the contractor's testing is submitted to the Southwest Clean Air Agency and includes independent audits of the monitoring data.
The board awarded Lakeside Industries the 2026 countywide pavement overlay contract in the amount of $2,732,633. Eugenis told commissioners the bid includes an asphalt price-adjustment mechanism tied to state indices; the director of public services will have authority to approve change orders up to 10% or $25,000 to account for material-price fluctuations. Eugenis said the county has about $3 million budgeted for overlay work and that project scope was scaled back earlier this year amid volatile asphalt prices.
The board also approved a contract with GovPath, not to exceed roughly $143,000, to implement a food-safety module into the county's Accela permitting and inspection system. Gina James (staff member) said the upgrade should take about four months and will be paid from the county's public health infrastructure grant; commissioners approved the item.
Other business: the board approved meeting minutes for April 13—, accepted vouchers totaling $2,539,152.72 and opened the floor for public comment (no substantive comments were recorded in the transcript). Commissioners also noted Commissioner Dahl was in Washington, D.C., this week and may provide an update to the board at a future meeting. The board adjourned after announcing upcoming meetings, including a board of health meeting and a departmental presentation by the humane society.
The board's actions were routine approvals of procurement, grant-related reimbursement and IT modernization; several items include follow-up monitoring or implementation steps (energy-usage monitoring for the Hall of Justice and ongoing reporting of landfill test results to the Southwest Clean Air Agency).
