SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a seventh change order of $89,426.76 for an ongoing improvements project at the Colburn solid waste site. 

The original $6,285,393 price of the contract — awarded to S & L Underground Inc. in April 2023 to modernize the decades-old Colburn solid waste facility ten miles north of Sandpoint — has now grown to $6,610,575.

Solid Waste Director Bob Howard told commissioners the new funds would cover a manual transfer switch, existing armor upgrades, existing scale upgrades, and final time and material. In a memo to the commissioners, he described it as the “final change order.” 

Commissioner Asia Williams questioned why items like the manual transfer switch weren’t included in the original contract and whether the total project cost had now exceeded the bid amounts presented by competitors when the project launched. 

Howard explained that costs were twice as high as anticipated when the project was originally put out to bid. 

“We had to redesign the entire project,” Howard said. “So, we broke it into smaller projects and smaller change orders to make sure, as we go through, we don't exceed the amount allowed.” 

After the approval of the most recent change order, approximately $85,000 remains of the amount approved for the project. 

Williams went on to request that the commissioners hear public comments about the project, which Omodt opposed at that time. 

“This is all utilizing funds approved by voters to get the most bang for the taxpayer dollar,” Omodt said. “There is nothing secretive in this. There's nothing tricky in this. This is just trying to take advantage of these funds in regard to how much growth the county has and how much more garbage we are creating, so that we can safely do our legislative requirement, which is to deal with the garbage.” 

Later in the meeting, two members of the public expressed dissatisfaction with the number of change orders for the Colburn project and questioned if the funds were being spent responsibly. 

Omodt and Commissioner Steven Bradshaw ultimately voted to approve the change order while Williams abstained.