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Council approves payment on Lacey Street rain‑garden project after disputed change order
Summary
The committee reviewed the Lacey Street rain‑garden project, found the garden functioning but raised concerns about a change order tied to parking-lot work and approved payment after discussion.
The Public Works Committee discussed the Lacey Street rain-garden project on Sept. 9 after a dispute over a late change order related to parking-lot work. Committee members said the rain gardens are functioning as designed but that project closeout and change‑order procedures failed to catch an unexpected paving issue.
A committee member summarized the review: “You know, if you go down there and look at it, you'll see that the rain gardens are functioning, doing a great job. The planning was fine. The process was fine until we got to the end where the parking lot was not fine.” Committee members said the change order surprised the borough and that the council previously voted 5–2 to pay the bill. The committee discussed the project management and noted new reporting and project‑tracking procedures staff are implementing to reduce similar issues on future capital projects.
Why it matters: The rain garden is performing environmental functions the borough sought, but the unexpected change order raised process and accountability questions about capital project oversight and sign-off procedures.
Outcome and next steps: The committee acknowledged past procedural gaps, agreed that the payment would be made following the council’s prior 5–2 vote, and supported staff proposals to improve engineer reporting and capital project tracking. No additional funding was requested at the Sept. 9 meeting.
