The Gainesboro Board of Aldermen approved a $235,670 change order Thursday to ensure the completion of a raw water intake project.
Engineer Nathaniel Green said the additional funding is necessary to keep contractors on-site and avoid further delays caused by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Green said the total contract price for the project will rise to $2.3 million.
“The quicker that we get a change order executed, the quicker I know that they’re not going to try to pull off and do anything else and that we can get the project completed, get all your ARP funding,” Green said. “And something else that I am going to do is I’m going to submit this change order to TDEC and see if there’s a way for us to get additional funding through grant from the ARP program since we are still tracking to be finished before that deadline.”
Green said the project has faced significant delays waiting for final approval from the Corps. That forced the contractor to maintain subcontractors and bypass pumping systems longer than anticipated. Green said he negotiated the final change order amount down from a significantly higher initial request from the contractor.
“So we need to go ahead and move because if we wait it’s just going to cost more,” one board member said. “I mean I hate it but.”
Green said the city faces a September 30 deadline for substantial completion to remain eligible for American Rescue Plan grant funds. Green said if the current contractor were to leave the site, the city would face additional fees to settle the existing contract and even higher costs to bring a new firm back to finish the work.
“Like you, it’s not, I don’t love it, but I don’t see that we’ve got a whole lot of choice,” one board member said. “So I’ll make a motion that we approve this change order.”
Green said the new contract price remains approximately $100,000 lower than the next closest bid received during the original procurement process. Green said he was able to offset some of the increase by reducing anticipated inspection costs by $30,000 and utilizing $20,000 in engineering savings.
“The biggest issue with that is that there’s, I mean there’s going to be a fee for them leaving that we got to settle up with,” Green said. “There’s going to be a fee to have somebody else come back. And then if we don’t get a substantial completion before the September 30th deadline, then we potentially lose portions of the grant.”
Green said the actual financial impact on the city’s original budget is approximately $151,022 because he utilized all remaining contingency funds to cover a portion of the change order. Green said he will now take the approved request to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to request additional grant coverage.
The board suggested reaching out to Congressman John Rose for assistance if the city continues to experience delays with the Corps of Engineers.
In other business, the board passed the first reading of an ordinance to reinstate language in the municipal code regarding offenses involving firearms and weapons.