The Marion County Board of Commissioners meets Wednesday to consider selling timber recovered from the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire and a $2.5 million contract to interconnect traffic signals on some Salem roads.
Commissioners will consider two contracts with TK Elevator Corporation to pay for new elevators at the Marion County Courthouse and Marion County Jail. The agreement for the elevator at the courthouse would be about $251,700, and the contract for the jail’s elevator would be about $107,500.
The board will consider a $101,500 contract with Brown and Brown Northwest for broker and consulting services to help the county with its employee benefits through Dec. 31.
Commissioners will also consider selling timber recovered from Niagara Park for $285,500 to Pleasant Hill-based Morrell Logging, LLC. The Beachie Creek wildfire in September 2020 damaged nearly all trees at the park on Highway 22 near Gates. The Oregon Department of Transportation removed trees that were potentially dangerous for drivers, and Marion County made an agreement with ODOT to remove hazardous trees from county parks. Most of the work at Niagara Parka is done, and ODOT has recovered about 700,000 board feet of timber. If approved, Morrell Logging, LLC would haul the recovered timber to a mill before rot starts affecting its market value.
They will also consider a $2.59 million contract with Northstar Electrical Contractors, Inc., a Wilsonville-based construction company, to interconnect traffic signals on Northeast Lancaster Drive, Silverton Road, and Cordon Road, as well as in downtown Salem on Center, Court and 12th streets. The new system would allow for communication between traffic signals. About $948,000 will be paid with federal funds, Marion County will pay for around $1.8 million and the city of Salem would cover $43,200.
Meeting details: The commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Senator Hearing Room at 555 Court Street N.E. The meeting is streamed live on YouTube.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
