AGENDA #4d
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Change Order for Construction of the Town Operations Center Off-Site Utility Improvements
DATE: March 6, 2006
The attached resolution would authorize the Manager to execute Change Order U1 for $84,919 for the off-site utilities contract for the Town Operation Center (TOC). This would increase the new contract amount with Hannah Utilities Inc. to a total of $1,453,356. This change order will also be subject to approval by the North Carolina Department of Transportation which is also providing financial support for this project. Funds to cover this change order are available within the Contingency Budget that was approved by the Council for this project.
On June 20, 2005, the Council authorized the Manager to enter into a contract with Hannah Utilities Inc for $1,368,437 to provide off-site utilities improvements for the TOC.
Adjustments to the contract which would be approved by this change order include:
Providing epoxy coated piping for force main sanitary lines (an OWASA requirement). ($12,456.70)
Removing mud and providing crushed stone at the intersection of Eubanks Road and NC 86. ($2,200)
Providing a water/sewer tap for the Dawson property, and a sewer tap for the Mellott property, which were requested during negotiations for required easements across these properties. ($8,500)
Adding a 15” RCP (reinforced concrete pipe) beneath the road to the new sanitary sewer pump station to eliminate trapped surface water. ($1,826)
Providing additional washed stone for the sanitary sewer piping stabilization above the allowance in the contract. ($59,936.25)
The items in this change order total $84,919 and therefore require specific approval by the Council. The Town’s current policy, which was adopted by the Council in November 1992, requires that change orders which individually or cumulatively exceed 10 percent of the original contract amount or $50,000 require Council approval. This change order is only 6 percent of the contract amount and well within the $222,000 which was budgeted for contingencies for off-site work on the TOC.
This Town policy was based on the maximum amount ($50,000) that could be awarded for construction contracts under State law without formal approval by the Council. That limit under State law is now $300,000. In light of this, and the size of the TOC construction contracts, and the estimated cost of other major capital projects being considered by the Town, a revision of the Town’s Change Order Policy may be in order. The Manager will evaluate this policy and provide recommendations to the Council at a future meeting.
We recommend that the Council: