Grays Harbor County could be looking at a savings of about $1 million on an upcoming bridge project. Those savings would be in comparison to the engineer’s estimate.

The county is planning to replace Vesta Bridge on North River Road. The engineer for the project estimated the cost at some $5.7 million.

On Monday, March 19, the county commissioners received bids for the project. Cascade Bridge of Vancouver, Wash., bid just over $4.7 million. The company had the lowest bid.

Local bidders, Rognlins Inc. and Quigg Bros Inc., both of Aberdeen, put in their numbers as well. Quigg Bros Inc. had the second-lowest bid at just over $5 million while the Rognlins bid was the second-highest bid at more than $5.6 million.

In total, the county received seven bids for the project from companies in Washington State and Oregon.

The project will begin in April this year and is expected to continue through to September 2019.

Raises approved

The Grays Harbor County commissioners on Monday, March 12, had approved raises for the county corrections deputies. Those raises were negotiated with the Teamsters Correction Division, however the stipulations of the raises and the amount of the raises were not correct when approved last week.

Commissioners Vickie Raines and Randy Ross voted for the raises. Commissioner Wes Cormier voted against them.

On Monday, March 19, the commissioners corrected the raises. Again, Cormier voted against the raises.

The corrections deputies will receive a 2.25 percent raise this year, and a 2.5 percent raise in 2019.

Cormier said he would have preferred to see the commissioners approve raises during a surplus (annually, the commissioners struggle to balance the general fund budget and often function with an operating deficit). Cormier also said he believes the county should work to compare salaries with similar positions in other counties before approving raises.