BOCC approves sixth Colburn project change order

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners approved the sixth change order for the Colburn improvement project at their Tuesday business meeting.

The overall improvement project is now expected to cost roughly $6.4 million, said Bonner County Engineering Department staff engineer Spencer Ferguson. 

“This change order is for an increase in the amount of $67,652.40,” he said.

These changes include a swale dry well for roughly $11,130, a scale printer upgrade for roughly $5,860, an existing building approach slab for roughly $43,600, and retaining wall fall protection for roughly $7,064.

Commissioner Asia Williams asked Ferguson why these change requests were coming in now and why they were not anticipated at the start of the project. It seems to be a recurring theme in the county, she said, that rather than items being budgeted at the start of a project, funding is requested for them later.

In terms of the building approach slab, Ferguson said there had been an asphalt slab constructed in front of the building in question.

“We replaced that with asphalt in order to save money, as a cost-saving measure, with the idea that it might be a potential add later,” he said. “We have some extra funds that we have not spent, and we’re looking to add that.”

Williams said it seemed like removing recently poured asphalt would be wasting taxpayer money, but Ferguson said that is not what’s happening. Rather than removing the asphalt completely a section of it will be upgraded to concrete.

Ferguson said the benefits of upgrading part of the slab to concrete far outweighs the downsides of the cost, as asphalt is much softer and will not last as long as concrete. Concrete provides longevity.

“It’s just kind of a common sense thing,” he said. “It’s quite necessary.”

Commissioner Luke Omodt shared the sentiment, saying he is looking forward to the longevity of the Colburn facility.

Ferguson added that if the concrete upgrades weren’t being requested now, it would still be a project that the Solid Waste Department would need to do next year.

When Williams said she still had not received an answer to her question, Commissioner Steve Bradshaw attempted to rephrase the answer.

The original grant received for this project was an FDA grant for a limited amount of funds, he said. When budgeting for a project of this size, the highest priority items come first — concrete not being one of those priorities.

“In the event of a cost overrun, this outer piece, we’ll figure as asphalt,” he said. “If we have the money, we’ll go concrete. But if we don’t, we’ll go asphalt, which will be a shorter lifespan, but that’s the dollar we have.”

Either way, Omodt said the rates of inflation have caused the project to cost more than anticipated at the start of construction.

“We work within the confines of our budget to provide the greatest amount of service to Bonner County,” he said. “At some point, we can either kick the can down the road, pretend the needs don’t exist, or we wait and we have to figure out funding, whether it’s through fee increases or whether it’s through another bond. Because we know the garbage isn’t being reduced; there was actually a 10% increase.”

The commissioners approved the change order in a 2-1 vote Tuesday morning.