City moves forward with Standpipe Recoating Project

The Ritzville City Council voted to move ahead with the Standpipe Recoating Project at the Aug. 6 council meeting.

The city received a memo from Ben Varela, of Varela & Associates, on Aug. 5, who recommended that the city should move forward now with the project, using available Drinking Water State Revolving Funds that are set to expire on Dec. 31 of this year.

The project has been delayed in the past, as detailed in the memo, “due to the motor failure at Well No. 9, the Park Reservoir cleaning schedule and uncertainties with the potential funding offer from [the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development].”

Both the interior and exterior of the standpipe need to be recoated, but the Washington Department of Health recently stated that the exterior recoating portion of the project is not eligible for DWSRF funds. Varela recommended that the project should be bid in a manner so the interior portion of the project is included in the base bid, while the exterior portion of the project is a bid alternate.

“Once bids are received, the city can evaluate whether or not it’s feasible to fund the exterior coating with city funds,” Varela said in the memo.

The total estimated cost of the project is $300,000. The base bid, which covers the interior preparation and finish and miscellaneous repairs and accessories, is estimated at $230,000, while the bid alternate that includes the exterior preparation and finish is $70,000.

According to the estimated schedule provided by Varela & Associates, the advertisement for bids would begin on Aug. 22. The plan is for work to begin on the project by Oct. 21 and have the work complete by Nov. 30, a month before the city’s DWSRF funding expires.

Councilmember Scott Yaeger—who is an engineer for Adams County—walked the council through the memo and made the motion to approve the city to advertise for bids for the project. The motion was unanimously approved.

Crack-sealing operation covering a lot of ground

Public Works Director Larry Swift and interim Public Works Director Dave Breazeale provided a positive update on the department’s recent crack-sealing operation.

According to Breazeale, Chelan, Palouse, Columbia, Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and half of Division Street have been crack-sealed so far. Breazeale also noted that the city hasn’t had a crack-seal program for 15 years, hence “there’s a lot of cracks.”

Councilmember Dennis Chamberlain added that it sounded like the department was getting through the crack-sealing more ‘economically’ than some expected, and asked Swift and Breazeale if that was an accurate presumption.

“Yeah, we’re getting a lot more coverage than I think what we anticipated,” Swift said. Swift also said that they would keep going with the operation if they weren’t running out of material.

Other news and notes

-Councilmember Michelle Plumb shared that the city is working with Varela & Associates to get a bid packet together after receiving quotes from the Washington State Department of Transportation to replace signage on the highway. Plumb is hoping that the cost to have a company actually replace the signs is very low, because the cost from WSDOT to have the signage replaced is “pretty expensive.”

-The council voted to approve Mayor Gary Cook to sign the Business License Services Agreement with the Washington State Department of Revenue. The agreement complies with recently adopted Restricted Code of Washington Section 35.90.020, which states that “a city that requires a general business license of any person that engages in business activities within that city must partner with the department to have such license issued” with the agreement. Councilmember Mark Weigand abstained from the vote.

-Recent renovations at the Ritzville Golf Course include a deck and railing at the course’s clubhouse, announced Weigand. The bathroom next to the Hole No. 3 fairway is also now working, and the handicapped restroom in the clubhouse is expected to have been completed by the end of last week. Weigand was asked about the ongoing process of hiring someone to run the clubhouse’s restaurant, and replied that there is currently a couple interested in it for 2020.