Following discussion in the Warren County Board of Supervisors’ July 11 working session, the board on Monday voted to reject a bid for dredging at the LeTourneau boat ramp.

County Engineer Keith O’Keefe went before the board to give his recommendations.

“We had one single bid from Hemphill Construction in the amount of $545,000 even,” O’Keefe said. “We recommend rejection of this bid by Hemphill Construction and authorization to re-advertise the project.”

The $545,000 bid came in at more than $300,000 over the estimated cost for the project.

However, O’Keefe said it was likely that more bids would come in for the project during the rebidding process.

“We’ve talked to a couple of contractors who have indicated they would bid it this time, although they did not bid it last time,” he said.

District 3 Supervisor Shawn Jackson stated that it was important for the county to budget for this sort of work in future years, as a clean-up project of this scale has not been conducted at the LeTourneau landing in approximately 10 years.

The reasoning given for the limited dredging at the landing, O’Keefe said, was that the county did not have sufficient equipment to complete the job.

“They need to dredge out about 250 to 300 feet,” he said. “That hasn’t been done in a very long time. I would hope that we wouldn’t have to do this for at least the next two or three years. It’s been a decade (since this kind of work was done at LeTourneau).”

District 1 Supervisor Edward Herring also expressed his concern for law enforcement being able to access the water at the landing.

“I would encourage us to have a backup plan for the sheriff’s department or rescue, because as it stands, that part of the river is severed, other than way up north,” Herring said.

He then proposed the idea of a temporary easement or temporary landing to allow law enforcement easier access to the area around LeTourneau in the event of an emergency.

The board voted unanimously to rebid the project.