Commission tables vote after question on 33% fee increase for wastewater design amendment

The Ashland Board of City Commissioners tabled a proposed amendment Aug. 28 that would increase the fee paid to Strand Associates Inc. for final design and construction services on the city’s wastewater treatment plant expansion.

Commissioners and staff discussed the roughly 33% increase in Strand’s fees. Commissioner Harry asked for an explanation, noting that items such as record drawings, warranty procedures and final completion letters appeared to be services that could have been anticipated in the original contract. Director Barry Atkins and others explained the increase was driven in part by a longer construction schedule (from 36 to 42 months), additional on-site inspection time, electrical design changes, delays in state approval and efforts to avoid introducing Build America/Buy America requirements into the project by using STAG grant funds for engineering rather than construction.

Atkins said construction timing and additional electrical engineering work contributed to higher costs, and that some of the extra engineering expense results from extended staff presence during an extended construction period. City staff also noted the amended engineering cost would still be about 5.3% of construction cost — below a typical 10% benchmark — and that any unused time-and-expense money would return to the city or be used for operations-and-maintenance manuals and SOPs.

Commissioner Harry moved to table to allow Strand representatives time to appear and explain the request in person; the motion carried unanimously. The tabling pauses formal approval and directs staff to schedule Strand representatives to appear at a later meeting to answer detailed questions about scope, personnel and cost drivers.

No formal vote on the amendment was taken at the Aug. 28 meeting.