Thursday, March 28, 2024

Approves Senior Center donation

Pateros Council awards contract for downtown Well House #4

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PATEROS – City council members voted to award the contract for construction of Downtown Well House No. 4 during their regular monthly meeting last Monday, March 18. The winning bidder was Pipe of Washington, Inc. (POW) of Pasco.

This was the second round of contractor bids after the first round of bids received earlier this year were redone. Council members had hoped to award the well house contract in early February so the project would be completed in time for Apple Pie Jamboree in late July. However, when it was determined that the lowest bidder in the first request did not follow the bidding rules, the city decided to repeat the process.

Bids from the second request were opened March 7, and of the three received, POW was the lowest at $1,281,629. The other bidders were Burly Products of Post Falls, Idaho, at $1,319,174.40, and General Industries, Inc. of Spokane, at $1,371,288.93. All three contractors bid under the city engineer’s estimate of $1,382,796.00.

Council members voted to accept POW after city engineer Ben Varela reviewed the company’s performance record and financial status and judged both to be satisfactory.

Council members also approved a $500 donation to the Brewster-Bridgeport-Pateros Senior Center to help the organization cover operating expenses this year.

In a letter to the council, Senior Center President Kathy Lowry wrote about the clientele the Center serves.

“The majority of the people who frequent the Center are widows, widowers, and elderly married couples,” said Lowry. “The meals that are available serve as a focal point and a place to gather for social interaction and fellowship which is as important to these folks as the sustenance they receive.”

Other points Lowry mentioned included:
• Approximately 4,547 meals served at the Center in 2018

• Approximately 915 meals delivered to shut-ins.
• While a non-mandatory donation of $4 is asked from those aged 60 years and older, seniors are never denied a meal.
• The Senior Center bus provided 3,584 rides in 2018, or an average of 69 rides per week.
• Senior citizens received 3,390 free rides last year.
• Monthly rides to Omak and Wenatchee covered more than 21,550 miles last year.
• The Center serves as a distribution point for citizens who qualify for the monthly commodities program.
• The Center operates a Rummage Room from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.
• Annual senior membership costs $10.
• The Center sells local business ads that are displayed at the Center and derives a small fee from the non-profit Okanogan Transportation and Nutrition (OCTN) for kitchen use.
• It costs $30,000 annually to keep the Center open and functional.

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