Washougal bike park on hold

Children who were looking forward to trying new moves with their bicycles on phase two of the Washougal bicycle skills course will have to wait, now that city officials have determined prevailing wage and state and local permitting requirements were not fully considered in a contract.

Washougal Public Works Director Trevor Evers said the city notified the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance on Dec. 20 that the contract for the Washougal Bike Park Design-Build Project was being terminated.

The city had invited professional bike park builders in August of 2017, to submit proposals to design and construct a new pump track, and possibly a jump track, at the bike park. The skills course is located at Hamllik Park, 4285 Addy St.

Evers said the city had been unsuccessful in a grant application, so city officials decided to send out a request for proposals to see if phase two could be delivered with very limited funding using Park Impact Fees.

Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance submitted a bid of $34,560, and Hilride Progression Development Group submitted a bid of $162,180.

Evers said as the city moved toward giving the contractor a notice to proceed, it became clear their proposal was not going to work for the city.

“The contractor had not fully considered the prevailing wage and state and local permitting requirements when they prepared their proposal, and they were requesting that we amend the contract to add those items, prior to even starting work,” he said. “This would have escalated the costs of the project beyond the limited funding for the project, and would introduce irregularities in the procurement process.”

Evers said as city staff prepared to manage the contract, it became clear the contractor’s reliance on donated labor and materials could be problematic, introducing complexities and potential issues around ensuring compliance with state public works contracting requirements.

Phase one of the bike skills course opened in October 2016. That phase, which makes its way around the perimeter of Hamllik Park, includes natural rock and cedar log features, ladder bridges and ramps.

The bike park was built using hundreds of volunteer hours and thousands of dollars in donations and in-kind contributions.

“This is still a value added project for our community, and we hope to deliver it in the future,” Evers said regarding phase two of the project.