County moving ahead on new bridge

Wahkiakum County commissioners moved forward on road projects and handled other business ranging from tax levies to travel expenses when they met Tuesday.

The board passed a resolution authorizing release of funds for design work to replace a culvert on the Elochoman Valley Road with a bridge. The resolution was requested by the state County Road Administration Board, which is providing the majority of funding for the project.

Public Works Director Pete Ringen said the project is expected to cost $864,000, and design work will cost $130,000. The county will pay a 10 percent share, $96,000. The county has grant funding for the initial work but still needs to obtain funding for the construction portion, Ringen said.

The project calls for replacing the culvert and fill with a bridge and also realigning the road to ease curves and level the grade.

Commissioners approved the resolution for design work, but there were a couple raised eyebrows at spending close to $1 million on a bridge and road project serving the few residents living up the valley.

"To invest a large sum of public money in a new crossing of Clear Creek without fixing the road alignment at the same time would be foolish, in my opinion," Ringen commented last Tuesday.

"Most bridges will last about 80 or more years. So whatever we build, will be there for a very long time. To place the bridge in a location where the road alignment is very poor, both horizontally and vertically, would leave safety hazards in place for several decades. We are also fortunate that our project to fix the road scored highly in competition, so we can do what makes a lot of sense, and get this one piece of road done right.

"It is not a foregone conclusion it will be a bridge; however the stream is very similar in size to Rock Creek, where we did a cost comparison of a large steel arch and a bridge using our 'free' girders, and the bridge came out cheaper. A lot of this has to do with this road being a federal route and so it has to meet higher level design standards, plus it has to have a span length that satisfies WDFW (state Department of Fish and Wildlife) and their notions.

"True, it does not serve residential population, but good roads for our logging traffic make a difference in haul time, and as we know, time is money. Safe roads where recreational traffic interacts with logging traffic are also important."

In other business before the commission Tuesday:

--The board approved a request from Treasurer Paula Holloway for funds to attend a Seattle conference for training on the county's new computer program.

Holloway said she had budgeted conservatively for several years and hadn't asked for any money for travel for several years.

"I have been financially responsible," she said. "This is something I didn't anticipate at budget time last year."

Commissioner Blair Brady commented that the county had a severe revenue shortfall and that the software and recent computer acquisitions were full of hidden, never ending costs.

Commission Chair Lisa Marsyla supported Holloway's request, saying the training is needed. Commissioner Dan Cothren said he shared Brady's frustrations but the training was needed.

--After discussing options with Fire Department Captain Beau Renfro, the commission decided to ask a contractor to install guy lines on a radio tower on KM Mountain instead of asking an engineer to design the project.

Renfro said a consultant recommended installing the guy wires to support the tower, which is aging and scheduled to be replaced in a few years. Having an engineering firm design the project would cost about $12,000, he said. Another consultant said his firm could simply apply the guy lines for less than $10,000.

"I don't see a reason to study the project," Brady said.

"I couldn't agree more," Cothren said.

--The board passed a resolution setting county tax levies for 2011.

Newly elected Assessor Bill Coons said the state's share of the collection will increase 19.2 percent because incorrect information was supplied to the Department of Revenue last year. Pleas to allow corrections have fallen on deaf ears, he said.

"There is some new construction, but the equalization ration is off," he said.