County accepts lone bid

Whitman County commissioners on Monday formally accepted the lone bid for phase one of courthouse improvements.

The base bid from James W. Elmer Construction Company of Spokane is for $350,749 plus $27,358 for 7.8 percent Washington state sales tax.

County maintenance and operations director Bob Reynolds told commissioners that the planning for the project started in 2005 and has been funded by general obligation bonds.

The first phase of courthouse improvements is remodeling the two bathrooms in the courthouse to bring them to Americans With Disabilities Act standards. The project should begin as soon as possible and should take about 120 days to complete, Reynolds said.

Also Monday, Emergency Management Director Bill Tensfeld told commissioners he recommended the board reject the bid for an emergency communications trailer and go out to bid once more.

A bid from Ohio was submitted last week for more than $96,000.