Commissioners approve emergency change order for Centennial Trail project to avoid construction delay

The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners on May 7 approved an emergency change order for the Centennial Trail project after staff said postponing the work would delay the project and increase costs.

Speaker 3 introduced the emergency change order, saying it was needed to address an urgent issue discovered in the field. A project representative (speaker 5) said a contractor, Moe Asphalt, notified county staff of soft spots along the trail and provided a mitigation estimate; the speaker said city engineers in Post Falls had reviewed the assessment. "I was contacted by Moe Asphalt yesterday, and they informed me that we had some soft spots for the extent of trail," the presenter said, and asked the board to approve mitigation funding.

Commissioners discussed the timing and cost implications and then moved to approve change order number 1 for the Centennial Trail project. The board voted to approve the change order; the clerk stated that the motion carried.

Why it matters: delaying the mitigation work, staff warned, would risk additional damage and higher remediation costs and could push the project schedule into a later construction season. The board did not specify all funding sources in the public record during the discussion and labeled that detail "not specified."

What happens next: staff will coordinate with the city engineer and the contractor to implement the mitigation work under change order number 1. The county did not provide a final, itemized cost breakdown during the public presentation.