The Grays Harbor County commissioners took action on the Wishkah flood wall and new software for the Treasurer’s Office, and they heard some opposition to a contract they approved for jail medical services.
Commissioner Wes Cormier was absent.
Jail medical services contract approved
Commissioners Vickie Raines and Randy Ross approved a contract amendment with Dr. Yong Ki Shin MD for medical services for the Grays Harbor County jail.
The commissioners had discussed the potential changes last week at length.
The contract sees Shin earning $44,900 per month (up from $20,825 per month). The contract is good for 2017 and will be reviewed again before a new contract is issued for 2018.
While the commissioners had asked Shin to look into raising his malpractice coverage to meet the county risk pool’s recommendation, the contract approved on Monday did not include additional coverage costs.
A community member addressed the commissioners during the county meeting on May 15 saying the commissioners should look further into Dr. Shin’s credentials.
Commissioner Raines said the Sheriff’s office is tasked with looking into qualifications.
“The commission is not here to discuss any physician’s credentials. We, as the board of county commissioners, approve contracts,” Raines said. “I’m certain that if we lined up people to talk about one doctor or another doctor, both doctors are going to get a line of people who have issues and non-issues.”
Commissioner Ross noted the limited duration of the contract.
“We’ll probably address this again in October or November right before we go into budget for next year,” Ross said. “That would be another appropriate time to come and comment.”
Flood wall bids received
The commissioners also accepted six bids for the Wishkah Road Flood Wall construction project.
Three of the bids were from local businesses: Brumfield Construction of Westport bid more than $3.96 million (the highest bid received), Rognlin’s Inc. of Aberdeen bid more than $2.46 million (the lowest bid), and Quigg Bros Inc. of Aberdeen bid just more than $3.02 million.
All six bids have been forwarded to the county engineer for consideration. The commissioners likely will award a bid and approve a contract in the next few weeks.
Commissioner Raines said she expected work to begin in June. Most work is expected to be completed before the end of October. That could see the project completed before the next flood season.
“Flood season typically starts on Nov. 1, is what the guideline is,” Raines said. “Not all flood waters abide by that.”
New software for Treasurer’s Office
As planned, the Grays Harbor County Treasurer’s Office soon will have new software that directly links to the county Assessor’s Office.
Having software that worked for both offices was a selling factor for the T2 software. The commissioners approved T2 software for the Treasurer’s Office in 2015, and now the commissioners have approved T2 software for the Treasurer’s Office.
The Treasurer’s software will cost about $130,000. The commissioners plan to use local retail sales tax to bolster its software reserve fund for the purchase.
