Bonneville County Public Works approves right‑of‑way and property‑use agreements, OKs Bear Creek change order

Bonneville County Public Works on Tuesday approved several right‑of‑way and property‑use agreements tied to the 49th North road‑widening project, authorized a local services contract for the first phase of design at Ammon and 1st Street and approved a change order for the Bear Creek Road repair.

Assistant Director David Romrail introduced the package of right‑of‑way and driveway documents for Parcel 40 and later presented documents covering Parcels 24 and 22. Commissioners voted to approve both the Parcel 40 documents and the documents for Parcels 24 and 22. Romrail also explained four property‑use agreements (partials 30, 21, 39 and 38) needed because the title company has not received partial releases from some lenders; those agreements allow crews to access properties before owners receive lender releases. The board approved the property‑use agreements on a voice vote.

Romrail told commissioners the local services contract for phase‑one design of the Ammon and 1st Street intersection will be paid mostly through BMPO program funding but requires a local match of about 7.34 percent, with some county funds anticipated to cover the match. He said the phase‑one design will address irrigation lines, the location of underground fuel tanks at Country Corner and geotechnical investigations; the board approved the contract on a voice vote.

On the Bear Creek Road repair project, Romrail described a set of extra works captured in Change Order No. 1: excavation and removal of unsuitable material found during construction, relocation of a pipe from a catch basin, extensions to a downhill culvert and guardrail work to address a roughly 5‑foot drop at the wall. He said the work extended the contract time by roughly 20 days and reported two figures for the cost impacts: he said $79,431.67 for part of the change but also reported an overall cost of $79,004.31 as the presented total; staff said approximately seven days of liquidated‑damage deductions (about $7,000) are incorporated. Commissioners approved the change order; staff said a retention pay application will follow once the guardrail is complete.

Staff reported that most contractor payments have been made and that the county has closed out the Bear Creek project with LTAC, leaving the county eligible for future LRIP grant funds. Romrail also flagged a forthcoming change order to repair leaking CMP irrigation‑ditch joints (about 150 joints): crews will expose joints, install gaskets and use flowable fill to stop leakage.

Project updates included Snowbird Lane, where crews found previously unmarked telephone and fiber lines roughly 2 feet below grade; Romrail said the unmarked utilities have caused days of delay but have not generated contractor charges so far. At a recent preconstruction meeting for the 49th North project, staff and utility representatives proposed shifting a planned sewer alignment roughly 6 feet north to gain about 20 feet of separation between high‑voltage overhead lines and an excavator boom; HK will prepare a detailed realignment proposal and staff expects to place the item on a future agenda with an HK representative present.

Iona Road work continues, with pit‑run material and sidewalks being formed or poured and more than 100 cubic yards of concrete placed recently. Commissioners also reviewed a road summit that drew about 15 YouTube viewers and positive public feedback; they discussed making the summit an annual event and producing a combined map of projects for the public.

The meeting closed with staff agreeing to post project lists and meeting recordings on the county website and social channels. Commissioners identified follow‑up items — the HK proposal for 49th North, the CMP irrigation change order and guardrail completion on Bear Creek — and signaled those items will return to the agenda for final actions.