PORT ANGELES — A divided Board of County Commissioners has awarded a $144,444 bid to a Burlington contractor to construct an interpretive center overlooking the Elwha River west of Port Angeles.
Interwest Construction, Inc., submitted the lowest of four bids to build the facility off Lower Dam Road near state Highway 112.
Three local contractors, including one whose asking price was just $1,436 more than the bid from Interwest, submitted proposals.
Commissioners Jim McEntire and Bill Peach voted Tuesday to award the contract to Interwest Construction Inc., as recommended by County Engineer Ross Tyler.
Commissioner Mike Chapman noted no.
“I’m drawing a line in the sand,” Chapman said.
“I’m not interested in awarding contracts to out-of-town contractors who don’t work here, don’t support our schools, don’t shop at local merchants, don’t pay local taxes.”
Local bids were received from Hoch Construction of Port Angeles, which bid $145,880; Primo Construction of Sequim, which bid $154,070; and C&J Excavating of Carlsborg, which bid $213,238. The bids were opened in a public meting last week.
State law requires the county to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
Chapman asked his follow board members to postpone the bid award.
“I know what the state law is,” Chapman said.
“I know that we’re bound. I realize this opens the county up to all kinds of problems, but somebody needs to stand up and say ‘I hurt for the people who hurt for work.’”
If the county were to be sued for not awarding the bid, “it might be a court battle worth having,” Chapman said.
Clallam County is overseeing the Juan de Fuca Scenic Byway Association project to install a wooden structure sheltering a 16-panel kiosk that will describe the history of the Elwha River and its $325 million dam removal and restoration.
The interpretive gateway center is funded by a Federal Highway Administration Scenic Byway grant and a $77,000 match from the Clallam County road fund.
The project has gone out to bid three times.
No bids were received in the first bid opening last fall. Seven bids came in too high in the second round of bidding last December.
A vault toilet and other elements were removed from the design to bring the bids closer to Tyler’s $145,000 estimate.
Commissioner Bill Peach said the byway association has “invested a lot of time, effort and energy trying to make this happen.”
“They can put a fair amount of energy — they have already — into the success of this project,” he said.
The interpretive center is a collaboration of the association, the National Park Service and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
Elementary school students have painted hundreds of floor tiles for the facility.
Chapman said he had never voted against a recommended bid in 15 years as a commissioner.
But there was no rush to award a bid to an out-of-town contractor for a non-essential project, he said.
“At some point, as government leaders, somebody’s got to fight for our people who work here,” Chapman said.
“We’ve got to fight for the people that are struggling to make a living in this community.”
Chapman grew emotional as he addressed the hardships faced by local construction workers.
“As we continue this debate over economic development, here’s a prime example of how we’re not helping our local economy,” Chapman said.
“We’re not helping our local workers. And it’s easy for us. We just sit up here and pontificate. It’s all bull—-. Excuse my French. But we’re not doing the people’s work.”
Peach and McEntire asked Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols for a briefing on the board’s latitude for awarding contracts to local companies when an out-of-town bid is slightly lower.
From a legal perspective, the board is “bound and constrained to honor the market competition, for now,” Nichols said.
“I certainly understand the positions on both sides here,” Nichols added.
McEntire asked for a work session to help the board “understand where the white lines are so that we stay within the confines of the law, which is, of course, our duty, but to figure out where we might have some latitude and some flexibility.”
“I have great sympathy for Mike’s point, but I also have great respect for the market dynamic that’s occasioned by a competitive bid process,” McEntire said.
“For right now, I think we’ve got to respect the process. And I again, I really understand and respect Commissioner Chapman’s point. I have a lot of sympathy for it.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
