Ports considering ‘on-call’ project limits

The Port of Whitman County Commissioners were asked to consider a proposal by the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) to impose limits for on-call public works projects.

The proposal limits port districts statewide to $40,000 for on-call projects. Anything higher than that would have to go through the public bidding process.

“Cities, school districts and towns already have these powers, and the state auditor made a recommendation that ports do this for up to $40,000,” said Port Properties and Development Manager Debbie Snell.

Snell said the proposal would streamline the bid process, and it would only be for on-call projects.

“Right now, I don't think ports have any limits,” she said. “This is an effort designed to fill that gap and satisfy audit requirements.”

Currently, there is no statewide limit for on-call public works projects. The Port of Whitman, however, has an internal limit of $25,000.

“Each port will have internal policies,” said Snell. “Joe (Poiré) only has the authority to go through with $25,000. The $40,000 is just a limit to encompass a reasonable amount.”

Port staffer Kara Riebold pointed out that $40,000 might seem like a high limit for the Port of Whitman County, but it is not that high when taking into account other ports across the state.

“This is a bid limit for all ports, even the Port of Seattle,” she said. “We can still change that internally with policy.”

Snell said if the proposal passes in the legislature, it will likely not impact the Port of Whitman County.

“This does not change internal policy,” she said. “It's just an effort to plug a hole. It is just a way of making things more consistent.”

The WPPA sent out a letter to ports statewide asking for support for the proposal. The letter states that on-call contracting “is not enabled by state law, and the State Auditor's Office has started issuing management letters to ports for their on-call public works contracts.” It also explains the purpose of on-call public works contracts.

“On-call public works contracts are used when ports don't have the skills and resources in house to repair equipment that is critical to the activity of the port but doesn't know exactly what will break so they can't create specifications,” it stated.

The letter also cited examples of entities with public works bid limits. These included school districts ($100,000), public hospital districts ($75,000), water-sewer districts ($50,000), second class city or town ($40,000), counties ($40,000), public utility districts ($25,000) and fire protection districts ($20,000).

“All ports would benefit by being able to directly select a contract for public works projects under $40,000,” the letter continued. “This could be used for contracts currently listed 'on-call' or for other public works projects under $40,000. The creation of public works bid limits for port districts will benefit the public by providing an effective means of eliminating time-consuming, costly aspects of the traditional public works process.”

Snell gave an example of a project that has fallen under the category of on-call public works. Recently, a furnace went out at one of the Port's buildings at the Port of Wilma. The repair was less than $1,000, and no bid process was pursued to find a repairman. Instead, the Port called an on-call contractor.

“It needed to be done, and it needed to be done quickly,” said Snell. “It was mission critical with the cold weather.”

Snell said on-call contractors would not necessarily have to be for emergency work for such as that. The WPPA letter cited examples of ports having on-call plumbers, electricians or HVAC repairmen. Snell said even if the proposal passes through the legislature, it is also likely that if a project were to be on the higher end of the cost, the Port would still go out to bid.

“If a project was that big, we'd probably put it out on small works anyway,” she said.

She added that being a small port affords the Port of Whitman staff easy communication with Port commissioners, but larger ports with multiple departments might not have that benefit.

The Port commissioners agreed Thursday to write a letter of support for the WPPA proposal. The WPPA is currently seeking those letters from ports by Feb. 1 before presenting the proposal to the legislature.

“Their process is to get a feel for how all the ports feel about it before the WPPA moves forward,” said Snell.

The WPPA letter stated if there is support for the proposal, it will be forwarded to the WPPA Legislative Committee to be included on its agenda.