2017-03-08 BOCC PW Individual Update MinutesLewis County Board of County Commissioners Public Works Update
March 8, 2017 Present: Commissioner Edna Fund, Commissioner Gary Stamper, Commissioner Bobby Jackson (conference call) Public Works Director/County Engineer Erik
Martin, Lara Seiler, recorder, Linda Williams Start time 9:50 am
ADMINISTRATION
Kirk Homes Contract- Discussion was held regarding the Chehalis Basin Strategy and flood control zone district (FCZD). Erik asked the board what role they would like him to play regarding the water retention facility. Edna noted that the board had a meeting with Glenn on Monday and
the county wants to be the sponsor of the dam. The budget is $400k which will be
available on July 1st. Department of Ecology will take the lead role as regulatory authority and be in charge of the NEPA and SEPA and Maia Bellon the Director of Ecology will head this. The proponent for the project will be the county. Erik noted that that statue states the county engineer is the administrator for a FCZD. Edna said they will have the
prosecuting attorney involved with this effort. The board has discussed hiring someone to
head the project and have spoken with Dave Muller. She noted that there will be lots of permitting and Public Works and Community Development will be involved. With regard to governance of the FCZD the board members are the supervisors but in the future it could be supervised by a separate elected board if the current District board chose to
make that change. The flood control zone district board is a separate entity from the
BOCC but currently made up of the same commission members. More discussion was held regarding a flood control zone district. Gary said the board needs to sit down with all the parties and see exactly what the
organization will look like. They want to make sure the money is adequate and if it
appears there isn’t enough for staffing then they need to ask for more money. Erik told the board he would like them to meet Kirk Holmes from Perteet Engineering. Kirk has been through the process of forming a flood control zone district and been the
administrator. Perteet can help prepare cost estimates for the first biennium budget and
as we begin to operate the district Perteet can help the guide the county through the process. Erik has a draft contract with Perteet for facilitation, expertise and consultation in the amount of $74k which roads will pay for initially but may be funded by the FCZD in the future. The contract also has a not to exceed clause and if the entire $74k is not
utilized we do not have to pay out the rest of the contract. We can cancel services with
Perteet at any time. Erik can sign the contract and the board can ratify. The board agreed to meet with Kirk. Erik said he will bring Kirk to the board meeting in 2 weeks and will also put together
some preliminary numbers for the first biennium.
Steve Walton entered the meeting at 10:10 am
Packwood/Skate Creek Park- Gary said that Lewis County Fire Dist. 10 Chief Lonnie Goble would like to see the Skate Creek Park area developed. He also said that Tacoma Power may have money to add to
the park but where do we start? Erik noted that Tim Elsea had wanted to create
something out of this area. Potentially adding a gravel parking lot and picnic tables. The CFP committee also had a discussion about it. Ann Weckback has put some information together in case a grant opportunity comes up. We would have to identify an owner at that point as the grantor will want to know who will be the long term steward for the park.
Steve noted that maintenance is a big concern as they do not have the manpower to maintain it. Gary asked if the maintenance is something that could be contracted out but money is also a concern.
Gary discussed the possibility of putting a road on the other side of bridge so Tacoma
Power could dump fish then they could pay a fee. However, the overflow channel is an issue. Discussion was held about the possibility of starting with just a parking lot for 10-12 vehicles. Erik said that we cannot use road fund dollars for this project.
Gary said he will talk with Tacoma Power and explore some options and ask about the
grant cycle. Open Positions- Currently there are four RMT positions open and one Solid Waste position. Mike Ekstedt
recently retired and his position will be posted soon.
Strategic Planning Effort- Erik noted that the management team is having a strategic planning meeting with Paula Dillard tomorrow in the WSU Conference room. Paula will be leading the group through
the process and has an agenda for us. Erik is currently working on a new organizational
chart and this has been a group effort. Bobby noted he would like feedback from our meeting. North Lewis County Industrial Access-
Erik noted there was a team meeting held with SCJ yesterday. At this point the Technical
Advisory Committee (TAC) wants to get the recommendations to the Steering Committee. The plan is to regroup with the Steering Committee in April and give updates on potential project ideas. The comments from the Steering Committee will go back to the TAC and this will start the public process. Erik said we would like to take the action plan to existing
public meetings such as a planning commission meeting or school board meeting instead
of holding a special meeting for this project. This is due to low attendance in the past. We expect to complete the project by late July. Packwood Sewer-
Erik noted that Fred Evander and Lee Napier found approx. $40k left over from a CDBG
grant from the Dept. of Ecology to use on the Packwood Sewer project. Betsy will get familiar with project and she and Fred will look at the expansion of the service area and also look at the urban growth area around the LAMIRD.
Jim Masten has approached the county twice about doing an engineer study on sewers in Doty. Bobby said they have met with Jim twice but there were no schematics. Jim
ultimately wants the county’s approval to do a study and plans to meet with the board again in a few weeks. Erik said it would be beneficial for him to be there.
Steve Walton left the meeting at 10:25 am
Local Auto Sales- Discussion was held regarding the recent quote in paper. Erik is planning a meeting with the dealerships on March 22nd or 23rd to get their feedback and explore our options to allow these business to compete for our future vehicle purchases.
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING & OPERATIONS
WATV-
Gary noted that he spoke to Sheriff Snaza and they will take a look at the roads, and come to an agreement on which ones should quality. Erik said he will talk to Mike Kroll about signs and safety studies.
Gary left the meeting 10:38 am Roadeo-
The annual equipment roadeo is scheduled for Friday, May 19th. Lara will work with
Rieva to get on the boards calendars.
ENGINEERING/CONSTRUCTION
Lincoln Creek Bridge- The bridge is paved and there were some issues with compaction. Public Works is in a dispute with the paving contractor. It was cold on the day of paving and the trucks were
delivered all at the same time which caused the asphalt to cool which hindered proper
compaction. Public Works stance is that the contractor should have staggered the deliveries to avoid this issue. The project should wrap up in a month. Hwy 603-
Pre-con meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21st.
Borst Ave- Six consultant qualifications have been submitted to Lewis County and copies have been given to the City of Centralia for review. Tim Fife and Jan Stemkoski have review them
but Erik still needs to review. Erik noted a selection will be made by the end of the week,
then get them under contact and set timelines on alternatives and set up public meetings. North Fork-Public Meeting- This is our next big road realignment project. The preliminary designs done and they
have eliminated larger storm water facilities from the original design. Some citizens are concerned about right of way acquisitions so we are planning a public meeting to discuss.
UTILITY
Vader Reservoir- The USDA loan/grant application has been submitted. It may take a few weeks before we hear anything back.
Vader Water Rates-CIP Surcharge Estimate- We will be attending a second public meeting in Vader tomorrow to provide additional information to water customers regarding the use of the Capital Improvement Program
(CIP) Surcharge. The continuation of the hearing to approve the rates is scheduled for
Monday the 13th.
SOLID WASTE
Transfer Station Host Fee Agreement- The host fee agreement is up for renewal or renegotiation this year. We pay 4.75% of the
tipping fees to the City of Centralia as rental fee for use of the transfer station or about
$300k per year. The agreement talks about impacts to city streets, signs and litter control. The next step is to open renegotiations with the city. Truck will be going down National Ave and won’t impact city streets so there is room for negotiation there. Edna noted that she was in a meeting recently with Lee Combs and he noted city streets
wouldn’t be impacted as much with new contract with Republic. Lee also mentioned to
Erik the idea of selling the property to the county. The liability for the landfill has been established with the district. We pay $250K per year and the property appraisal was only $750K, so it would take 3 years to pay off if we purchased it. Lee also said they would sell but would want a host fee. Erik has a meeting with Kahle Jennings and Rob Hill to
discuss the issue next week. Bobby noted that if we purchased the property then there
should be not host fee. Meeting ended 11:00 pm