Otsego council approves $30,456 in change orders for drinking-water project and grants 7-day extension

The City of Otsego council on July 28 approved change orders totaling $30,456.76 to contractor Markett and Johnson for the Lehi House 4 drinking water improvement project and granted a seven-day extension to the project’s substantial and final completion dates.

AE2S project staff told the council the largest item — change order No. 9, roughly $41,000 in the project materials — addressed missing grout and floor slope work in a backwash tank that was omitted from bid documents. The AE2S presenter said the detail “really it just got missed by a couple people through the design,” and that completing the work now avoids a later confined-space condition that would add about $8,000 to the contractor’s cost.

The AE2S presentation explained three additional, smaller adjustments: valve compatibility tied to the winning filter selection, a chemical-feed pump change for consistency with other town facilities, and a minor constructability modification requested by the contractor. The four items together represented about 0.45% of the overall project cost and increased use of the project’s 5% contingency to 1.23%.

Council Member Ryan Dunlap moved approval of the change orders and the one-week extension; the motion was seconded and passed. The council record shows the motion approved the change order amount in the staff table and granted the seven-day time extension to both the substantial and final completion milestones.

City staff indicated the change orders arose during construction and that the omitted grout and slope should have been in the original bid documents. Staff also noted that delaying the work would have increased costs and created additional safety requirements for confined‑space entry.

No additional budget appropriation was requested beyond using the project contingency; council members asked questions about alternatives and confirmed contingency funds would cover the increase.