State auditor dings Port of C-W on federal work

A state audit of the Port of Camas-Washougal found that the port failed to meet federal requirements for procuring two contractors.

The port also failed to inform its contractors that they are responsible for checking the suspension and debarment status of their subcontractors. All of the subcontractors used for the federal grant project in 2017 held the proper qualifications, but the auditors made a note of the lack of communication.

Because the contractors were hired to work on a project funded by federal money, the port needed to adhere to a slightly different process.

The report, released Thursday by Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy, said that “Under federal law, architectural and engineering services may be procured following a competitive proposal method. Under this method, proposals must be advertised and the advertisement must identify all evaluation factors and their relative importance. The contract must be awarded to the most qualified firm.

“Instead of soliciting contractor proposals via public advertisement as required, the port selected contractors for further evaluation from a roster of pre-qualified firms it had on hand.”

Kim Noah, the port’s director of finance, said these lapses were minor, and largely a result of the port dealing with its first-ever federal grant — $2.875 million awarded in 2016 to erect an industrial building dubbed Building 18.

Until then, the Port of Camas-Washougal had only needed to adhere to state requirements, Noah said. Port staff are working out the details of operating under a different set of rules.

“Federal governments have a lot of requirements, and this is our first federal grant we received,” Noah said.

Of that nearly $2.9 million federal grant, the port spent $1.2 million last year. The contract work that drew the attention of the auditor’s office totaled $134,000.

“The port did not fully understand the competitive procurement and federal advertisement requirements associated with the items in the checklist,” the report stated.

Outside of these errors, the port’s annual audit report was favorable.

“The port did a great job in following policies, procedures and internal controls,” Noah said.

A full copy of the auditor’s report can be found at portal.sao.wa.gov/SubscriptionServices/RecentAuditReportSubscriptions.aspx?CID=709.