Oklahoma County commissioners on Sept. 2 approved several construction actions tied to ongoing county construction projects, including granting an electric easement, approving change orders to remove contaminated soils and backfill, and accepting a staff report showing project escalation.
County staff presented a recommended easement to OG&E to bring power onto the behavioral care center site and requested approval of time-sensitive change orders including a $4,087 canopy footing modification, $379,670 to remove hydrocarbon-contaminated soil and $102,244.77 to backfill the excavation. Commissioners voted to approve each item.
The presenting staff member told commissioners they will “be pursuing through [the] corporation commission to get a refund of our money from the people that are responsible parties.” The staff member also detailed project budget changes, saying the original guaranteed maximum price (GMP) negotiated with contractor Flintco was $44,400,000 and that escalation has increased costs by about $4,000,000; “The GMP today is $45,246,909,” the staff member said.
The staff presentation also summarized project oversight and management: Flintco serves as construction manager with dedicated on-site personnel; the owner’s representative, Bill White, has staff on site; and county staff including Scott March, GIS coordinator and CAD technician, support design and review. The presenter said the project team has logged 221 requests for information (RFIs) and is tracking 19 change orders.
Commissioners approved the staff recommendation to proceed with the change orders and easement and accepted the project report. No contested votes or roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.
County staff said they will continue to monitor change-order requests and provide periodic reporting to the commissioners; commissioners requested the update be shared with their offices and discussed continuing transparency reporting on a quarterly basis.