The White Salmon City Council deemed the City Hall improvement project “substantially complete” during a Nov. 20 meeting, citing only three change orders that needed approval by the council and a short laundry list for contractors to complete.
The change orders dealt with different aspects of the improvement project and varied in cost. Design chan-ges pushed by Mayor David Poucher and Councilor Ash-ley Post, and approved by the City Council in later meetings, had a price tag of just under $21,000, while the cost of replacing a railing that had rot on the front porch that was not previously part of the contract cost the City $1,827.50. Mean-while, electrical work was deemed necessary to include to comply with fire code.
“Electrical work related to the exterior lights was not included in the contract and needed to be added. When the electrician reviewed the work he found electrical wiring to the tower that did not meet code and presented a possible fire hazard. The electrical work has brought the wiring up to code and provided for exterior lighting to work,” wrote City Clerk/Treasurer Jan Bren-ding and City Administrator Pat Munyan in an agenda memo.
Painting commenced over the weekend, one of the last work items done to the building since the project was first approved by the council in August.
The original contract, awarded to EMTech, LLC ofCentralia, initially cost the City $178,987.50. With the additions of the front railing, the electrical work and the design changes, the cost totaled $211,001.01. The City most recently paid the contractor in full with a payment of $101,454.50 during the Nov. 14 meeting.
Much of the work done was structural in nature, but perhaps the most visible improvement is the repainting of the City Hall’s exterior walls. The bid also included a redo of the interior and exterior finish, repairing parts of the flooring, the replacement of one door, and addition of a fire escape from the second floor. The bid also called for a remodel and construction of the storage room.
The City went $11,001.01 over budget, but according to an Aug. 7 agenda memo, there was funding available from the Current Expense budget to provide the funding for either option and still maintain the ending cash balance the City’s financial policies require.
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