PORT ANGELES — A lottery drawing determined a winner after two bids for a Lake Pleasant project came in the same.
The successful bidder at Monday’s Clallam County commissioners work session was Quigg Bros. Inc. of Aberdeen for $82,000. The project is scheduled to start July 17 and be substantially complete by July 26.
Lake Pleasant Park is located a short distance off U.S. Highway 101 in Beaver, 10 miles north of Forks on West Lake Pleasant Road. It provides a boat launch, loading and mooring docks, accessible restrooms, parking and a playground.
The county park offers shoreline access, although most of the lake is private ownership.
The project will require closure of the parking lot, which the company needs for staging materials and equipment. It will be funded by a $140,000 grant from the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office.
The bid will be formally awarded at the commissioners’ next regular meeting, set for 10 a.m. April 23 in the commissioners meeting room at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.
The commissioners had called for bids March 11 to replace Lake Pleasant boat launch pilings damaged in a November 2021 storm. Four companies submitted bids.
East Slope Earthworks of Cle Elum bid $83,713 and Brumfield Construction Inc. of Aberdeen bid $135,000. Watersmith Construction Inc. of Tumwater and Quigg Bros. Inc. both bid $82,000.
“I had two qualifications besides price,” said Don Crawford, director of the county’s Parks, Fair and Facilities Department. “One was the fish window opens July 16 and both could start on July 17. The other was they had to finish by July 26, and both said they could.
“They were both for the exact amount, and both bids were essentially the same,” Crawford said. “There was no quantifiable way to disqualify one. The county code states that if two or more lowest responsible bids are essentially equivalent in quality, cost and ability to perform, the contract shall be awarded to one of the lowest responsible bidders by drawing lots in public.”
However, the county code lacks details regarding the exact procedure, so county engineer Joe Donisi suggested referring to the state Department of Transportation’s Standard Specifications for Road, Bridge and Municipal Construction.
One paper was marked “successful bidder” and the other “unsuccessful bidder.” Then two drew alphabetically for winner.
“I’m real excited for the project to get going,” Crawford said.
Since the bid amount is less than the state grant, Crawford will see if the remaining grant funds can be used to remove three or four dilapidated creosote pilings and whether the current construction permit can be expanded to include that.
“Nobody is opposed to removing those,” he said. “It’s just if the state will allow funding from the grant and if we can expand scope of the permit to allow it.”
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached by email at brian.gawley@peninsuladailynews.com.
