Project Downtown gets $100K for overrun costs

PULLMAN — The Whitman County Commission is giving the city of Pullman more funding for Project Downtown overruns.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to allocate $100,000 for the project’s extra costs during their regular meeting Monday in Colfax. The money will come from the county’s economic development fund that is partly made up of sales tax collections.

The funding is a fourth of what the city requested from the commission. Last week, Pullman Mayor Francis Benjamin asked commissioners to provide nearly $400,000 for all the project’s additional costs.

Commissioners chose not to issue the full amount because of other commitments in Whitman County that are dependent on the fund. Commissioner Art Swannack said the county has many projects coming up that need the money. This includes St. John’s sewer project and broadband internet expansion across the county.

Project Downtown is a more than $12 million city-led initiative to rebuild downtown Pullman’s streets, sidewalks and utilities. Main Street was closed in April for construction that was initially anticipated to last four months.

The project has experienced several delays. The first pushed completion to mid-October when the area was expected to open to limited traffic. The deadline was postponed again to mid-November and another delay came when traffic fully opened earlier this month. Work was supposed to be fully complete by the end of November, but now won’t be finished until next year.

The delays have been attributed to supply chain challenges and treating contaminated soil in the area.

Because the project’s timeline has changed, the contract between the city’s consultant Welch Comer was modified and required more funding. The Pullman City Council agreed during one of its regular meetings earlier this month to finance more than $200,000 to cover Welch Comer’s additional work that extended beyond the original performance period.

Benjamin told commissioners the $400,000 price tag is what’s needed to cover all of Project Downtown overruns. The other portion was from treating contaminated soil this summer. The city will need to make up the amount by using local tax dollars and reserves.

Project Downtown was funded by $9.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. The Whitman County Commissioners gave the city $200,000 from the same fund in September to aid costs.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.