Commissioners hold off on accepting bid for bike path

WORLAND – The Washakie County Commissioners met on Tuesday to open the four bids that were submitted for the repairs to a failed retaining wall along a section of the bike path along Airport Road.

The four bids were from Jorgensen Geotechnical LLC out of Jackson, Inberg Miller Engineers out of Riverton, Strata out of Gillette and WJE Engineers Architect Scientists out of Lakewood, Colorado.

County Planner David Anderson stressed that it is more important to consider qualifications over bids when it comes to engineering bid projects, to make sure that the job is done by the company that is qualified to do it at a reasonable price to the county.

Two firms came to visit the site, Jorgensen and Inberg, while the two others discussed the project over the phone with Anderson.

The decision to award the bid will be delayed until the Oct. 15 meeting, in order for Anderson to review the qualifications of the bids, along with the commissioners, to determine which company would be the best for the project.

The commissioners asked Anderson to also potentially draw up a request for proposal (RFP) for an engineer for the Washakie County Library. However, he and the commissioners decided it would be better for the county to seek out other counties to help them, or find out if other counties had someone to help them create an RFP.

This will help the county determine how to pursue certain grants, along with firms they should hire for the renovations to the Kennedy’s Ace Hardware building, once the Kennedys have moved into the old Shopko building.

In other news on Tuesday, Washakie County Fire Warden Chris Kocher brought it to the attention of the commissioners that the land that Mike Burrington accepted to clear out as part of the Firewise grant was not completed, and an official decision regarding the matter will be determined at the Oct. 15 meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

It was brought to the attention of the commissioners by County Assessor Kathy Treanor that one of her employees had recently quit after working for the department for 10 years, following a large amount of verbal abuse that her employees constantly receive while out in the field.

She went on to ask whether it would be possible to look at what she could pay for an incoming employee that she would be advertising for soon.

In the Road and Bridge Report, Keith Bower brought forth bids for work on Road 17, and the bid was awarded to Nowood Construction for $875. Bower also got approval for the purchase of seven cattle guards at $2,258 a piece, which will allow for a few extras to be stored for later use.

Bower was also asked to return for an annual employee evaluation at the end of the day, for which the commissioners did not go into executive session.