Private contractor sought to obtain, operate county gravel quarry

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jun 08, 20170

Whitman County commissioners approved a new strategy Monday for the Public Works department to seek land for a gravel quarry and stockpile site.

For the past two years, Public Works has sought to buy or lease private land somewhere between Garfield and Palouse for a site to replace the dwindling Gneadinger quarry north of Palouse.

“We’ve been unsuccessful finding a willing seller or leaser,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director.

Under a new strategy, Storey and his staff will put together bid documents to hire a contractor to seek the property needed and produce a hoped-for 40,000 tons of rock over the next five to 10 years.

The county uses gravel for chip-sealing, sanding and general road maintenance.

What is the difference between a contractor seeking the land and the county?

“They can pay more than we can,” Storey said.

The contractor would buy or lease the land, operate the quarry privately and sell rock to Whitman County as well as elsewhere.

The county currently has three quarry sites, one each near Hay, Colfax and Pullman.

At the county-owned (or leased) spots, contractors are hired to come in with equipment to crush rock at different times per year.

For the sought-after new location, if no land between Garfield and Palouse can be secured, other options will be considered.

“I have no desire to go to eminent domain for a rock stockpile,” Storey said.

A far more likely option, he indicated, was to bring rock in by truck from outside of the area.

With the project now approved by county commissioners, the next step is for Public Works to draw up bid documents, then advertise for the bid. Once a contractor is chosen, they will seek a site.

Storey indicated he hopes the process may lead to a new source of crushed rock by the end of the year.

A site between Palouse and Garfield is needed to have a rock source for road work in that part of the county.