A bid of $475,000 was approved by the Montesano City Council for intersection control improvements at the Highway 12/Main Street interchange, but not until after a lengthy debate centering around $15,000 to replace the “Welcome to Montesano” sign at the construction site.

Council members had been presented a list of bid options just a few days before their July 24 meeting with seven “preferences.” The bid from Rognlin’s Inc. was the top choice of Mayor Vini Samuel and Public Works director Mike Olden.

“Bid preference number 4 includes the traffic revision and replacing the city entrance sign,” read the report submitted to the council by Olden July 20. “The old sign is being displaced as part of this project due to lane widening.”

According to Olden, $457,199.83 remains in state funds for the project, designed to improve access in and out of Montesano by adding lanes, crosswalks and sidewalks to the intersection of Main and Highway 12.

“The state grant will fully fund the traffic revision, city-budgeted construction funds will cover the new entry sign as well as pay for a future rectangular rapid flashing beacon at the crosswalk,” wrote Olden.

Samuel said since it was unclear if the city would have enough funds to include all facets of the project, especially the rectangular rapid flashing beacon and the sign replacement, Olden opened up the bids allowing contractors to offer several levels of bids, ranging from the traffic revision and some additional paving only to the preference number four favored by the mayor and Olden.

A motion was made by Councilman Dave Skaramuca and seconded by Councilman Clint Bryson to accept the recommendation.

During the subsequent discussion, Councilman Dan Wood stated that at no previous meeting had the sign been formally discussed by the council, and both he and Councilman Robert Hatley expressed concerns that city funds would be used to fund the sign replacement and the crosswalk lights.

The rectangular rapid flashing beacon lights are those that are activated by pedestrians pushing a button. They flash brightly to signify to oncoming vehicles the crosswalk is in use.

Wood then proposed an amendment to the motion on the floor, saying the council should approve the lowest bid for the base project itself submitted by Nova Construction of Olympia for $440,310. Hatley attempted to second, but discussion between Samuel and city attorney Chris Coker said such an amendment to a motion already on the floor had to be a “friendly” amendment, meaning the person who made the original motion and whomever seconded it had to agree to accept the proposed amendment. Skaramuca agreed to that, but Bryson declined.

After hearing that without the acceptance of Bryson, Wood was told his amendment was dead in the water.

“If this isn’t an appropriate amendment, what is?” he asked the council.

Councilwoman Kim Cristobal noted that adding what could be considered “extra” items to a bid proposal isn’t unusual. She herself had seen it done on several occasions in her professional life. Samuel agreed, saying that items such as bike racks and benches that weren’t included in the original Pioneer Avenue East project were added to bid proposals and are now lining the completed project area.

A motion was made to “call the previous question,” which effectively put an end to the discussion and led to Samuel immediately calling for a vote, which ended up 4-2 in favor of the recommended option that includes the signs and crosswalk lighting, with Wood and Hatley voting no. Cristobal, Skaramuca, Bryson and Councilman Ian Cope all voted yes; Councilman Tyler Trimble was absent.

Wood objected to the way his amendment and the entire discussion and vote was handled and asked the mayor and city attorney to do further research as to the validity of his proposed amendment.

At the end of the meeting during council comments, Cope said he was disappointed with the way the vote was presented, saying, “This is something that should be celebrated,” but in the end was dragged into procedural chaos. He was quick to point out he stuck by his “yes” vote, “but we can do better.”

Samuel agreed. “I’m glad Mike (Olden) did the bids the way he did,” she said, and was happy with the outcome of the vote, “but yes, we can do better.”