The City of Montesano has awarded a project to Rognlin’s Inc. after receiving only one bid above estimates.

The city recently had advertised a request for bids for East Pioneer Avenue water infrastructure improvements. At one point, the water project was part of the East Pioneer project which earned headlines last month when Grays Harbor County Hospital District 2 (Community Hospital in Aberdeen) chose late in the process to not donate a sliver of property to the project jeopardizing significant funding. However, the water project is now its own project and the hospital district has approved temporary construction easements with the city.

During the July 11 city council meeting, the city learned that Rognlin’s Inc. of Aberdeen was the only company to bid on the project.

The city had budgeted $189,000 for water main replacement work. The bid from Rognlin’s was about $225,000, some $36,000 above engineer estimates.

Public works director Mike Olden encouraged the city to approve the lone bid.

“I recommend doing this project,” Olden said. “The bid is not ideal, but it’s reasonable. I’ve talked with the contractor and understand where he put his mind and why he put it there.”

That leaves the city some $36,000 short. Montesano chief financial officer Doug Streeter says the city will look to fund the difference through reserves and the council will need to approve a budget amendment.

In the end, Councilman Antony Chung was the only dissenting vote for a motion that saw the city accepting the bid.

“We need more than one bid,” Chung said after the meeting. “I want to be a fair player and to do it the right way. We have to get another bid. Awarding after just one bid is just bad business. You never know what you could have saved. It’s nothing against Rognlin’s.”