The Winthrop Town Council has reluctantly agreed to a revised contract with SCJ Alliance for engineering services related to current construction of the Chewuch River bridge pedestrian underpass.
But that may not be the end of the discussion.
At the July 15 Town Council meeting, council members and staff expressed surprise at unexpected cost increases SCJ cited in a supplemental agreement to the original engineering consulting contract, signed in late 2023.
Under the original agreement, consulting costs were estimated at $64,830. Over the years, as the underpass project was delayed by additional permitting and construction requirements, the projected cost now stands at $372,022 after council approval of the fifth supplemental agreement.
A June 18 memo from SCJ to the town cites additional work needed as construction proceeds, such as project oversight and materials testing.
Staff said SCJ has submitted unanticipated supplemental contracts in the past. Council member Seth Miles said he would “hesitate to ever use them again” because of previous “surprise” overages.
Town Planner Rocklynn Culp said construction engineering costs have gone up dramatically in recent months, but SCJ “wasn’t timely in letting us know and could have.” She said the town is considering renegotiating the charges.
“We have asked repeatedly” for accurate projections, Culp said. “There’s definitely room to challenge the cost.”
Mayor Robert Grim said the town’s attorney will be consulted about possible actions.
“Let the record show that we’re not happy,” council member Marisa Monteverde said.
A revised resolution adopted by the council notes that “there have been cost overages for design and construction of the Chewuch Underpass project that were not timely communicated to the town,” but it would be detrimental to the project to not pay SCJ at this point.
However, the resolution continues, “the Town is not waiving claims related to fee overages and intends to negotiate the fee further.”
In April 2022, after contracting with SCJ Alliance for several years, the town council agreed to shift most of its engineering and construction consulting work to Spokane-based Varela Engineering and Management, after a bidding a staff review process. Varela also provides general engineering services to the Town of Twisp.
In other business, the council awarded a contract to Summer Ridge Painting of Omak to repaint the Winthrop Barn and to paint the newly constructed restroom and storage building next to it, colloquially referred to as the “Baby Barn.” Summer Ridge submitted a bid of $14,593 for the Barn and $8,571 for the new building. The council agreed to the company’s request for permission to temporarily station a travel trailer in The Barn’s parking lot to avoid daily round-trips to Omak during the painting project.
Barn Manager Michelle Parsons said town staff can handle most necessary repairs that may be discovered during the project, including possible replacements of The Barn’s front doors and the entry doors to the Hen House addition, where the council meets.
The council also:
• appointed Phil Millam to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, which advises the council on how to use hotel/motel occupancy taxes collected in the town.
• approved a contract for engineering services related to wastewater treatment plant improvements, particularly the Perry Street lift station, for a total of about $140,000.
• adopted an updated capital projects priorities list, as revised after council discussion at a previous meeting. At that meeting, council members asked staff to assign higher priorities to the downtown boardwalk system, and for construction of a sidewalk on Highway 20 east of the Methow River bridge.
