With a few exceptions, the bids are in and the contracts have been awarded to companies seeking to do business in the new fiscal year with Lincoln County.

At the June 10 and 17 county commission meetings, commissioners approved several contracts, including for cleaning of county offices, display and legal advertising, election ballot printing, gas and diesel, road oil and gravel.

A few contracts have yet to be settled. One is for portable restrooms and the other for rock and crushed gravel. No bids were received for the restrooms. District 2 Commissioner Jim Hammons said the Maintenance Department would check with the few vendors that provide the service to see if they will submit bids. 

The contract for rock and crushed gravel is for repair work needed following the massive flooding and wind damage that occurred between December 2025 and earlier this year. Hammons said the rock and gravel crushing for the FEMA work will be going out for bid. 

A contract for county printing was set aside until 2027 because the current deal is for two years.

The contracts take effect July 1 and end June 30, 2027.

The Western News will be the paper of record after it won the bids for display and legal advertising.

For legal ads, The Western News bid $.75 for the first folio and nothing for additional runs. The Kootenai Valley Record bid $5 for the first folio and $3 for additional publication.

For display advertising, The Western News won the contract with a bid of $1.50 per column inch and zero for additional runs. The Record bid $4 per column inch and $2 per column inch for subsequent publication.

For annual cleaning of county offices in Libby, Mack’s Mountain Home Cleaning was the only bidder at $83,002. 

The cost breakdown includes the courthouse ($23,246), library ($14,162), sheriff’s office ($9,528), annex building ($23,428) on Mineral Avenue, the Asbestos Resource Program building ($6,610) on California Avenue and the Lincoln County Youth Court ($6,028).

Libby’s Golden State Oil was the lone bidder for the county’s gas and diesel services. The bid proposed OPIS pricing of regular gas, No. 1 and No. 2 diesel plus a vendor markup of $0.20 per gallon for Libby, $0.25 per gallon for Troy and $0.45 per gallon for Eureka.

Billings-based Eagle Printing maintained its status as the ballot printer after it was the lone bidder. Costs include ballots at $0.23 per sheet for front-only printing and $0.32 per sheet for front-and-back printing. Instruction sheets on #24 bond white paper were quoted at $0.55 per sheet. Secrecy envelopes (size #10 non-window) were priced at $0.70 each and affidavit envelopes (white, size #11) were priced at $0.11 each, plus shipping. 

At the June 17 commission meeting, Noble Excavating claimed the contract for crushed gravel over another Libby-based operation, Thompson Contracting.

TCI’s bid was $29 per ton ($40/cubic yard) for Libby 3/8 clean chips and Troy 5/8 crush at $11.50 per ton ($16/cubic yard) and ¾ crush at $10.50 per ton ($15/cubic yard).

Noble Excavating’s winning bids including $8.85 per cubic yard for 3/4 road gravel, with the same pricing applied for Troy 5/8 and 3/4 gravel, plus mobilization costs of $4,000 for Libby and $6,650 for Troy.

McAsphalt Industries of Toronto claimed the contract for road oil after it was the only bidder. Pricing ranged from $6.80 to $7.97 per gallon, depending on product and delivery location.