LAKE COUNTY ? The Lake County Board of Supervisors put off until Tuesday a decision about whether to allow a $1 million contract change on what the board called its largest county road project.
The project would widen approximately a mile of South Main Street and Soda Bay Road south of Lakeport”s city limits to include three lanes and 8-foot shoulders, according to Lake County Principal Civil Engineer Ken Brown. He said the work involves excavation to run existing utility wires underground, and the contract change would cover the cost of environmental research that needs to be done in the area.
“This project just happens to be located near areas with a higher sensitivity for precious cultural resources, which is causing the need for a higher level of cultural studies,” Brown said.
Lake County Public Works Director Brent Siemer estimated the project would cost $18 million when complete, and told the board the contractor was working with the county to procure state and federal money to complete the project.
“Both funding and schedule are critical to completing this project,” Brown said.
Siemer said the project was already months behind, and a delay of the estimated two months needed to send the project out for a more competitive bid would jeopardize the project. Lake County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox told the board not enough information was available to make a decision, and recommended delaying approval of the project.
“I”ve never seen a contract amended to this extent. It just seems bizarre to me,” Cox told the board. “This is a lot of money. You need to know what you”re doing if you approve this, and I”m not sure that you do right now.”
Board Chairwoman Denise Rushing agreed. The discussion was continued until the board”s afternoon session, and continued to next week to allow the contractor time to trim its estimated cost.
Cox said the contractor, Larry Seeman Associates, provided a budget, but the print was too small to read.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
