Commissioners award fairgrounds sanitation bid to Noble Excavating, agree to use PILT for shortfall

Lincoln County commissioners voted to move forward with the full fairgrounds sanitary-system project after staff said the low responsive bidder was Noble Excavating of Libby but the bid exceeded the county budget. "The low bid was Noble Excavating out of Libby," staff member Andy said, noting three bids were submitted and the low bid was "significantly higher than our budget." A commissioner argued that delaying the work would likely increase costs and moved to award the contract and cover any remaining cost with PILT funds; the motion passed.

Commissioners emphasized recent failures at the fairgrounds — septic problems and an electrical line failure during the fair — as reasons to complete the project now rather than reduce scope. One commissioner noted the county had already invested roughly "$200,000 in and change" and said cutting scope would amount to halving the project without solving urgent infrastructure needs. Staff said they will proceed with contract award and coordinate funding and repairs.

The action addresses a capital maintenance need at a county facility and follows discussion of options including scope reduction and pursuing grants; commissioners framed the choice as weighing fiscal constraints against the risk and cost of further delay.