Orting council declines immediate stair redesign amendment, pauses on larger bridge engineering amendment amid liability and cost concerns

Orting City Council members voted down a motion to approve a $61,570 amendment to the construction management contract intended to redesign the variable-height top stair and revise a pedestrian pathway on the Emergency Evacuation Bridge project, and later saw a separate $249,596 amendment related to drilled-shaft anomalies fail for lack of a second.

The dispute centers on a variable-height top step on the bridge that parametric design documents allow within building-code ranges but which the prime contractor flagged as a trip-and-fall risk. Councilmember Moore presented the amendment as a way to avoid schedule delays and additional change-order costs; he said staff and the city attorney had been consulted and recommended the redesign. “Every day that we delay this project, the city is going to incur costs,” Moore said.

Why it matters: the bridge is a high-visibility public-safety and transportation project. The council must weigh the financial cost of a design change against potential liability from reported atypical stair geometry and against schedule impacts if construction stops. Councilmembers repeatedly raised questions about project oversight after hearing that the design firm also performs construction management and inspection work for the city, a setup some members said weakens checks and balances.

Most substantive facts and votes

• Agenda bill 5A requested an amendment to the construction management contract with Parametrix (referred to in materials as Parametrics) for $61,570 to produce revised drawings for a variable-height stair and a new pedestrian pathway. The proposed amendment would have increased the Parametrix contract to $1,136,780.54. The motion to authorize the mayor or designee to execute…