Cowlitz County approves change order to cover traffic‑control costs on South Cloverdale Road project

Cowlitz County commissioners on Tuesday approved a change order to pay additional traffic‑control costs on the South Cloverdale Road‑Confer Road intersection project after utility relocations ran far longer than planned.

County Engineer Susan Eugenas told commissioners the project originally included a four‑week utility work window for franchise and telecom providers (including PUB, Calama Telephone, Comcast and Ziply). Those utility relocations stretched to roughly 39 weeks, she said, requiring the contractor to maintain extensive traffic control beyond the original allowance. Eugenas described the change order as intended to reimburse the contractor for those added traffic‑control days.

"Those four weeks came and went and the utilities were nowhere near being done," Eugenas said, adding that the extended work window had incurred substantial additional traffic‑control costs. The transcript lists the added amount as “229,75023”; staff described the overrun verbally as about a quarter‑million dollars. The county engineer said most utilities are now clear and that the contractor has returned to critical work, but a few remaining relocations could still affect critical‑path culvert work in July.

Commissioners expressed frustration that the county had limited legal recourse against utilities operating in the public right‑of‑way. One commissioner said the expense was "hard to swallow," and commissioners said staff is working to strengthen franchise processes so future project schedules and remedies are clearer to the utility companies.

Eugenas explained the county’s contract structure: contractors are given a number of working days for critical‑path construction; during utility suspensions those days are not charged against the contractor’s working‑day total, and the county remains contractually obligated to pay the contractor for work done outside the originally planned window. Staff warned that rejecting the change order could prompt a contractor protest and potential litigation because the contractor performed under the contract’s terms.

A motion to approve Change Order #6 passed on a voice vote; the transcript records the outcome but does not record individual board members’ votes.

The county also noted related consultant and contract adjustments elsewhere on the project: a prior supplemental agreement with WSPUSA added $12,000 for footing and stem‑wall design changes. Commissioners said they expect to present franchise‑code changes in July or August to give the county stronger remedies when utility relocations delay public projects.

The board took the vote after the discussion; staff will proceed with the approved change order and follow up on proposed franchise and process changes.