Clallam receives five bids for safety facility
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 1, 2026
PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has received five bids for general contractor services for the construction of the Joint Public Safety Facility.
County commissioners opened the bids on Tuesday from Westwood Company LLC for $16,096,330, Faber Construction Corporation for $15,137,000, Interwest Corporation Inc. for $16,019,000, H.B. Hansen Construction for $14,659,000 and Neeley Construction for $15,070,000.
Before they opened the bids, county Administrator Todd Mielke spoke about the project, which is a partnership between the county and the city of Port Angeles.
“This facility is to jointly house the regional communication program, which is Pencom, that is overseen by the city, and it will house Clallam County’s Office of Emergency Management,” Mielke said. “It is a resilient facility that’s supposed to help coordinate emergency responses.”
When the project first went out to bid for general contractor services, the county received bids from H.B. Hansen Construction Inc., Neeley Construction and Interwest Construction. Those were ultimately rejected, however, when an issue came up with the primary electrical contractor who was used in all three bids when that company withdrew its bid.
The commissioners voted Feb. 3 to send the project back out to bid.
The Joint Public Safety Facility has a targeted cost of $22 million. It will be a single-story structure approximately 14,250 square feet and located on Edgewood Drive across from William R. Fairchild International Airport.
The county has contracted with Vanir Construction Management Inc. for construction and management services for the project.
Coroner’s office
Also Tuesday, commissioners held a public hearing regarding an ordinance to establish an office of county coroner, addressing recruitment and appointment, adopting professional standards and authorizing the discharge of duties.
“Clallam County has historically utilized the prosecutor’s office as an ex officio coroner under previous state law,” Mielke said. “The Legislature changed the law pertaining to coroners in Washington state. As a result of that change, the state Attorney General’s office came out with a new interpretation of how it was to be interpreted and determined that prosecutors in Washington state are not allowed to also serve as coroners.”
The county sent the issue to the Charter Review Commission, which presented the issue to voters last fall. Voters approved creating an office of county coroner as well as a separate position for the coroner.
“The debate was whether it should be elected or whether it should be appointed,” Mielke said. “That debate went back and forth. I think, ultimately, people decided that they felt somebody that was being a coroner shouldn’t be just a politician but instead should be somebody who is trained in forensic medicine and be able to conduct these investigations.”
The commissioners voting Tuesday to pass the ordinance to create the coroner’s office is the first step toward appointing a county coroner.
Mielke worked with the prosecutor’s office as well as District Court Judge David Neupert, who has been working as the county coroner since January 2025.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
