A Cody contractor will be handling the needed replacement of a culvert on Lane 5 in rural Powell. 

Commissioners approved a contract to pay CK Civil $196,000 for the culvert replacement. The company submitted the low bid of three contractors and was recommended by County Engineer Brian Edwards after he and his staff went through the three bidders. 

“All the other bid requirements they met,” Edwards said, adding, “We feel like at this point the best situation, if the commissioners choose to award this contract, would be to award to the low bidder, CK Civil, for $196,940.”

The contractor had enough of a low bid that having a Wyoming preference and being a Park County company didn’t even factor into the low bid. The other bidders were Urick Precision Construction in Cody at $299,200 for the base price (all companies also priced out deductive alternates) and JTR Excavating, of Casper, bid $244,780. 

The job was originally planned for last September but was delayed. After commissioner Dossie Overfield raised the possibility of delaying the awarding of the contract again slightly until July to get into the new budget cycle, a number of commissioners objected to further delay. 

“Lane 5 is a major artery in the north end of Powell, and we’ve had issues with this culvert, it didn’t just pop up … If we lose that road, it could be a major problem for quite a while, so I don’t think we can wait,” commissioner Lloyd Thiel said. 

The others agreed, with chair Scott Steward noting that while people will surely be frustrated with the road being closed for the work to be done, it’s a lot better than how long the road would be closed were the culvert to fail. 

“If that culvert washes we lose that road and it’s going to be a major thing,” Thiel said. 

With the award of the contract, work is set to start early July and be completed within 60 days. Edwards said the road would likely need to be closed two to three weeks during that stretch and at most for a month. 

Commissioner Scott Mangold said with this not being the rainy season in Powell, “it’s a good time to get it done.”