PORT ANGELES — Construction equipment is scheduled to arrive next month at the future site of the Lower Elwha Klallam’s new fish hatchery.
But a dedication ceremony and groundbreaking of the facility — part of the National Park Service’s Elwha River restoration project, which includes the removal of the two dams — has not been set.
Ed Tafoya, a Park Service contracting officer working on the project, said site mobilization will begin Jan. 18.
A Jan. 12 pre-construction meeting will likely set a groundbreaking date, said Tafoya, who works in the Park Service’s Denver office.
Construction was originally expected to begin in October but was delayed when two of the eight project bidders filed a protest with the federal Government Accountability Office over the awarding of the $16,364,094 contract to the James W. Fowler Co.
The contract was awarded by the park service, which is paying for construction of the fish hatchery.
The protestors — Hoffman Construction Co. and IMCO General Construction Inc. — challenged the contract selection by claiming that they had lower bids, and that the Park Service did not give them full credit for previous work and did not evaluate their past performance on other projects, Tafoya said.
The GAO dismissed the protest after the park service agreed to review its selection.
Tafoya said the Park Service concluded in early November after the review that Fowler remained the best value for the federal agency even though it wasn’t the lowest bidder because the company had the most experience with both constructing fish hatcheries and completing large projects.
“We’re willing to pay a little bit more for a highly technically qualified firm than one with a lower [bid]” to lower risks with not meeting construction requirements and timelines, he said.
Tafoya said the agency concluded that it gave the other bidders’ work experience proper attention.
Restore salmon stocks
The new fish hatchery will be used to restore the Elwha River’s salmon stocks after the waterway’s two dams — the Elwha and Glines Canyon — are removed.
It will be larger and more modern than the tribe’s current hatchery in order to raise enough salmon to restore the stocks to pre-dam levels. It will also be on higher ground.
Lower Elwha Klallam Chairwoman Frances Charles said the current hatchery is at risk of being flooded when the river returns to a more natural path.
Dam removal is planned to begin in spring 2011 and take between two and three years to complete. The entire project is estimated to cost $308 million.
Charles said that groundbreaking of the new hatchery will be a big event for the tribe, which plans to mark it with a dedication ceremony.
“It’s a key component for the restoration of the salmon runs,” she said.
“We’re excited about it. It’s getting so close.”
Construction is expected to take 485 calendar days, said National Park Service spokeswoman Samantha Richardson in an e-mail.
Tafoya said the delay won’t affect dam removal dates, since it’s not necessary that the hatchery be finished before that work begins.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
