PENDLETON — Umatilla County’s public park is getting a new bridge.

Flooding in February 2020 damaged the bridge at the Harris Memorial Park, about 14 miles east of Milton-Freewater. The county board of commissioners at its bi-monthly meeting Wednesday, Nov. 10, awarded a $239,361 contract to replace the bridge to TrueNorth Steel, which has its headquarters in West Fargo, North Dakota, and also operates out of Missoula, Montana.

The county sought bids for a prefabricated modular steel vehicular bridge to replace the damaged structure and received two bids. The other came from Contech Engineer Solutions of Greeley, Colorado, for $288,840. The county’s public works department recommended going with the lower bid.

TrueNorth Steel will deliver and install the bridge in four modules spanning a total of 83 feet, 3 inches, and providing a travel way inside the guardrail that is 28 feet wide, according to its proposal.

The county in its requests for proposals set Feb. 1, 2022, as the deadline for delivery.

The Harris Park bridge is one of three the country is trying to replace, Commissioner George Murdock said. The others are the Thorn Hollow Bridge on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Mac Hoke bridge outside of Echo.

Replacing the Harris Park Bridge is significantly cheaper than replacing the others, Murdock said. He estimated the Thorn Hollow Bridge repairs could range between $5 million to $6 million, and Mac Hoke could be roughly $2 million to $3 million.

A recent tragedy reinforced the county’s need to replace those bridges and create safe passageways. On Oct. 12, a train struck a semitrailer south of the Umatilla River along Cunningham Road, killing driver Lester Myles Sickles, 42, of Kennewick. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office at the time reported Sickles’ truck stopped on the tracks for an “unknown reason.”

Because the Mac Hoke bridge is unusable, Murdock noted drivers have to take a detour to get to residents living in the area. When crossing the tracks, Murdock said, it can be difficult to see past the parked train cars on both sides to make room for vehicles.

Murdock noted Sickles was on that detour when the crash occurred.

“It’s really pretty unsafe,” Murdock said.

Commissioners at the meeting Nov. 10 also ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the assistant district attorney’s union. The agreement, which lasts three years, enhances the union’s salary schedule and makes the schedule similar to other counties.

Murdock said he hopes the agreement will make the county a more appealing place for assistant district attorneys to come and work. He noted the county has three openings for assistant district attorneys.

“We’re trying to be more competitive to fill those jobs,” he said. “Like everything else, there’s a shortage of attorneys.”

The county board also signed its support for the Columbia Rail’s Connect Oregon grant application, which intends to improve the short line near Weston. The grant application sought by the project will add 2,500 feet of new siding track and new switches near Milton-Freewater.

The railway heads south from Walla Walla along Highway 11 into the northern part of Umatilla County. It is “primarily focused on farm products,” and grain growers in particular, Murdock said.

The project will not use any county funding, Murdock noted.