Changes to two contracts for the construction of the Westbrook Heights Business Park have added about $100,000 to the project.
At a meeting Monday, Dec. 5, the council will hold a second vote to approve the change orders for the project. At a meeting on Nov. 21, the council voted, 3-1, to approve the change orders. Councilors Brendan Rielly, Suzanne Joyce and Drew Gattine voted to approve the orders. Council President Jim Violette cast the sole dissenting vote.
The city is seeking approval on change orders on two separate contracts for the project. It is seeking an almost $47,000 change to a contract to Gorham Sand and Gravel for off site improvements. The order is for an additional $21,000 due to increased cost for fuel, $21,400 for additional work to rebuild a sewer line on Eisenhower Drive and $4,500 for a video examination of a sewer line connected to the project.
The other change is an almost $55,000 change to a contract with White Brothers, the contactor employed by the city for all the work on the site of the business park. The order is for an additional $25,000 for increased fuel costs, $24,800 for work on an access road and $4,500 for additional water mains and fire hydrants.
City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the contracts for the project were signed in September, and it is not uncommon for changes to be made in a project this size. “None of these are out of the ordinary,” he said. “It’s the cost of doing business. It’s part of being a contractor.”
Violette was critical of the change orders. He questioned why the council was not consulted prior to the city accepting the changes. He was also concerned that the administration brought the requests to the council so late in the process, and he felt the changes should have been brought to the attention of the council much sooner.
“They never brought it to the council’s attention,” Violette said. “They just made a decision to accept the requests without getting the council involved when the council should have been involved.”
While the change orders will increase the cost of the project, the additional money will not come from taxpayers. The city has established a contingency fund as part of the project’s budget to pay for changes such as these. The changes brought forward by the city, if approved by the council Monday night, would still leave the city with about $118,000 of the $220,000 contingency fund in place.
Bryant said the city established the contingency money as part of the project’s budget because it anticipated some changes would be necessary. “Things happen and you have to respond to them immediately,” he said. “That’s why you have contingency accounts.”
Violette said he wanted more information on the reasoning behind the requests for the changes. He said he was concerned that other bidders for the project may have included some of these increased costs as part of their base bid and the city could have awarded the project to a bidder that had factored in those extra costs.
The council will hold a second vote on the change orders at its meeting Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. in room 114 of Westbrook High School.
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