Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA -- Six weeks after all the bids were rejected because of a controversy that threatened the city with an additional $100,000 in costs and a possible lawsuit, City Council finally picked a contractor for the Sudbury Landfill Area Six closure project.

At their Wednesday night meeting, City Council members voted unanimously to accept a $1.53 million bid from Scarsella Bros., Inc. Council members Jim Cummings and Conrado Cavazos were not present.

At the center of last month's bid controversy was whether Council should have accepted the lowest bid from Boss Construction Inc. at around $1.51 million, even though the company had failed to properly complete its bid form, or to go with the second lowest bid from Selland Construction Inc. at around $1.62 million.

Both contractors had retained attorneys, and most Council members expressed concerns that chosing between the two lowest bidders would eventually lead to litigation.

The Area Six Landfill closure project will require adding an extra three feet of topsoil to cover a 22-acre mountain of compacted refuse. Several wells would then be drilled to collect methane gas from the old landfill site. Facilities would be built to burn off that methane.

Funding for the project was through rate increases that took effect in January.