Sticker shock

When Lewis and Clark County officials opened the bids for the chip seal projects on the Rural Improvement Districts in Lincoln and Augusta, they weren't sure what to expect.

Although they had anticipated a substantial increase in the cost of the project, they found when they opened the bids May 24, rising costs had far outpaced what they expected.

"The bid we received, with anticipation of inflation and fuel costs, was higher than we predicted.," County Public Works Director Jenny Chambers said at the Lincoln Government Day meeting June 3. "We knew it was going to be higher, we just didn't know how much higher it was going to be."

Chambers explained that the bid was 60 percent higher than they had estimated, and prices were a full 154 percent higher than last year.

"It's challenging with construction estimates because we put those estimates together over a year ago," said Jessica Makus, the county's special district coordinator.

She explained that last year the chip seal price came in at $1.73 per square yard. Anticipating a price increase due to inflation, they had planned for a price of $2.75 per square yard and included a buffer and contingency.

"Even with all of that it still came in higher. The bid we got was for $4.40 per square yard," Makus said. "Our number one priority with this is to get this work done this year and to make sure we are not deferring it again.

Makus said deferring the chip seal work further isn't really an option because the original RID construction didn't include an asphalt mat; it's simply a double shot chip seal less than an inch thick. "So, it's critical to have that maintenance done."

Last month, the commissioners approved the 2023 maintenance assessment and the assessment to cover the Intercap loan that was intended to allow them to get the chip seal work done on the Lincoln and Lambkins RIDS. Given the pending shortfall from that loan, Chambers believes they will be able to find the additional money to get the work done this year. She said they were leaning toward recommending to the commissioners to approve the bids, a decision slated to be made June 14.

For their part, the Commissioners seemed willing approve the bid and cover the extra cost.

"I think between the two RIDS here and the one in Augusta, we're between 50,000 and 60,0000 short," Commissioner Andy Hunthausen said, adding he hopes the commission would be able to cover that on a one-time basis out of their contingency and reserve funds. He warned however that going forward, they're going to have to reassess in the future to be sure the RIDS are generating enough money to pay for the next chip seal in seven to ten years.

Commission chair Jim McCormick said they are seeing sticker shock on everything "from A to Z" because of inflation and public works is one of the county departments seeing the greatest inflationary impacts due to the rising costs of fuel and the cost of petroleum-mix products used on the road surfaces.

Chief Administrative Officer Roger Baltz said they wrapped up three days of budget meeting at the beginning of the month that looked at budget assumptions.

"As you might expect with what's going on - not just in our county but everywhere in the country - there are a number of...concerns and uncertainties tied to inflation the commissioners are considering with the regard to the budget," he said, noting that public works and public safety are by far the two largest expenditure categories.

He said they are trying to be extremely thoughtful in looking at both the short-term budget proposals that are being presented and the long-term consequences.

As part of their budget strategy, he said they are looking at the county's discretionary spending categories such as travel and hiring for certain vacancies.

Baltz also noted they are seeing revenues increasing as well, but not to the same degree as expenditures.

As part of Public Works' effort to reduce costs in-house, Chambers said the building maintenance staff has taken over the drinking water system maintenance for county systems in August and Lincoln, including Hooper Park. "Instead of hiring a contract water operator, paying maintenance cost to an outside entity, we're going to absorb that through internal staff, get them trained up, and working with DEQ to make sure they know what they need to do from a regulatory standpoint."