Low bidder gets jail roof job

Cobra Roofing Services, Inc., Spokane, was awarded a contract Monday to replace the roof on the Whitman County jail Monday by county commissioners.

Cobra’s bid of $99,765 was well below the only other bid from All Surface Roofing and Waterproofing, Spokane, which bid $140,719. Bids were opened last Monday.

Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager, reviewed the bid packages over the past week. Reynolds said he had to look very closely at the proposals because of the wide price gap.

The plan calls for a total replacement of the roof over the county jail. The current roof is the original, put on during jail construction in 1983. It has been patched several times over the past decades to stop leaks which have cracked the plaster on the ceiling.

Bulk of the cost of the repairs will be paid out of the county’s capital improvement fund, which is fed by excise taxes on real estate sales. The fund currently sits at $244,000.