WENATCHEE, Wash. — The City Council approved a change order to the Jefferson Reservoir rehabilitation project after staff reported additional safety and roof defects discovered during construction.

Jessica Shaw, deputy public works director, explained the city began lining the reservoir this spring to address significant leakage. She told the council the reservoir had been losing nearly 60 million gallons a year prior to the lining. During the rehabilitation the city found the reservoir roof in worse condition than expected and identified additional safety fixes for an exterior ladder. Shaw said the change order primarily covers sealing the roof and performing required safety upgrades.

Shaw told the council the project had been budgeted at about $11.1 million and that bids came in below that figure; the proposed change order of $180,009.98 would keep the overall project under budget. She said early work had already reduced leakage substantially: "We're down now to 14 gallons per minute. We were well over a 40 gallons per minute," she reported.

Council approved change order number 1 for the Jefferson Reservoir improvements and authorized the city administrator to sign the documentation.