Port awards Boyer Park project contract

Port of Whitman commissioners last Thursday awarded the Boyer Park RV expansion project to Palouse River Rock of Colfax who submitted a base bid of $404,700, which was $4,700 higher than the high end of the engineer’s estimate.

The final contract package, including the project alternates and taxes, comes in at $623,299.

“While the number does seem large now, the port has not in the past put a lot of money into (Boyer),” Commissioner Tom Kammerzell said in the discussion prior to the vote. “It is the one place where all the public is getting the benefit of the use of the park. It is going to benefit everybody.”

The plan for the Boyer Park RV expansion includes four new cabins and 13 new RV spots in addition to the seven tent sites and 32 full and 16 partial RV hook ups already there. The four cabins will be fitted with electricity and heat, but not plumbing.

The expansion also includes asphalt repair in the existing campground, paving of the RV overflow area, irrigation in the west and south areas and safety trenching measures. These components of the project are all the alternates in the bid package and add up to $173,500 of the total amount.

This project will be the latest in a series of enhancements which include upgrades to plumbing, new sinks and mirrors in the restrooms, electric upgrades to RV pedestals, fire pits for the main RV park, public park grills, red picnic tables, rubber bumpers on the docks and new signage.

“It is going to be a premiere place,” said Joe Poiré, Port executive director said. “As this place gets nicer, they are coming from farther and farther away and staying for longer and longer.”

Kammerzell said he has seen an increase in activity at Boyer Park since the series of upgrades began.

“In the middle of the week, it is still half full,” Kammerzell said of the visitors to the area. “The usage is changing down there.”

Commissioner Dan Boone told the Gazette earlier this year the series of upgrades and enhancements is making Boyer Park an attractive area for travelers.

“The better the park, the greater the destination,” Boone said at the meeting Thursday. “It is going to generate the benefit that we need.”

All the commissioners and the Port staff at the meeting agreed that the investment was worth the cost, despite the high bid numbers.

The commissioners voted on the staff’s recommendation to accept the low bid from Palouse River Rock and to allow the Port to accept the second bid if the first were to fall through.

The second lowest bid, from ML Albright & Sons of Lewiston, came in at $627,358. The high bid of the 11 received rounded out at $897,650.

Port Properties and Development Manager Debbie Snell said construction can begin as soon as the contract is in place, which can happen in as soon as 10 days from the bid award.

“It can begin as soon as they can mobilize,” she said.

All parts of the project are expected to be completed between December and April, with the exception of the asphalt, which will have to be completed in the spring when the asphalt companies resume operation.

“Everything can be done up to the asphalt,” Snell said. She added that not being able to do the asphalt right away will not impact the project timeline or impact other areas of construction.

Commissioner Kammerzell said everything should be in place at Boyer and ready to go for Memorial Day weekend.

Snell said the Port also plans to install play equipment at Boyer in the near future at an estimated cost of $50,000.