Commissioners approve $1.14M in ARPA funds for Mill City sewer project; Bethell abstains

Marion County commissioners on July 29 approved Amendment #1 to the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the CM/GC contract with Slayden Constructors, Inc., adding $1,139,150 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The amendment brings the contract total to $38,677,753 for the N.W. Alder Street / North 1st Avenue sanitary sewer improvements in Mill City.

The board approved the second consent calendar that included the GMP amendment. Commissioner Bethell abstained from that vote; Commissioners Kevin Cameron and Colm Willis voted aye. "Commissioner Bethell clarified for the record that the conflict was due to a family member working for Slayden Constructors, Inc.," the minutes state. The abstention was recorded and no further action by Bethell on that item was taken.

The amendment adds ARPA funding to cover labor, materials, supervision, coordination, and equipment necessary to complete the sanitary sewer improvements. The motion to approve the second consent calendar was seconded by Commissioner Willis and recorded as carried with one abstention.