Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Tekoa Warren Street wall matter may have a resolution as the city council awaits an estimate to seal it with an epoxy coloring.
The estimate, to be given by Ultimate Truck and Auto of Spokane, would apply a spray -- like on a bedliner for a truck. A representative from the company visited the site last week.
The idea was suggested by Tekoa city councilman Richard Kelly.
Previously, the council received a $12,600 bid from CTI of the Palouse at Palouse for cleaning, staining and painting the retaining wall. But council members and the mayor were reluctant.
“It looks okay. Put it that way,” said Mayor John Jaeger. “We might have to live with that okay.”
The main issue, as Jaeger sees it, is water stains showing.
When the new estimate comes in, the council will weigh whether or not to spend the money, or leave the wall as it is, and save the money for another project.
Aside from water stains, another concern, according to Kelly, is that the wall is not completely level.
“They can just fill it in as they’re spraying,” Kelly said. “It’ll look good too.”
Built on Warren Street last year as part of a road construction project, in the end the wall was revisited after city officials deemed it unsatisfactory.
The city held back $28,000 in retainage to Accelerated Construction of Plummer, Id., notifying them they would like its “porous’ nature to be fixed, as described by Jaeger.
Representatives of the company came back to Tekoa last November to work on it.
About three feet of the wall was fixed before the weather turned too cold.
The $576,354 total project was paid for by a state Transportation Improvement Board grant.
The money that the city held back in retainage is a standard practice as tax matters and other issues are settled. The retainage also allows for a public entity to protest what may be incomplete or unsatisfactory work.
Accelerated Construction was awarded the project by the city by lowest bid. A city is required by law to choose the lowest bidder – a practice designed to prevent cronyism and protect contractors.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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