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College Avenue utility work bids reveal pavement-quantity error; change order nearly $497,000 recommended to council
Summary
An error in pavement repair quantities for the College Avenue utility contract increased the contractor’s scope by $496,606.20; staff recommended the change order be forwarded to council and said federal funding and disadvantaged‑business requirements complicate traffic-control costs.
Corey Grama, utilities engineer, told the committee that College Avenue utility work — which includes a new 12‑inch water main, hydrant connections and sewer replacements — received a low bid of $1.85 million, well below the engineer’s estimate of $2.6 million.
Shortly after construction began, staff discovered an error in the bid schedule: the project’s square‑yard quantity for a concrete pavement repair pay item listed 350 square yards but the work requires approximately 2,650 square yards. That difference produces a change order totaling $496,606.20, which staff say is the fair adjustment to compensate the contractor for the additional pavement rehabilitation and associated traffic control.
Grama said $104,000 of the change order is attributable to an additional 60 days of traffic control. He noted there is a possibility the city will not have to pay the full traffic control amount depending on final reconciliation of pay items at project closeout; he also said one other pay item may come in about $50,000 low at final reconciliation.
The contract was bid to meet disadvantaged business requirements tied to federal funding, which influenced the selected subcontractors and pricing. Committee members asked whether the contractor or engineers were at fault; staff said the contractor bid off the quantities in the bid documents and that the error occurred in coordination between two different engineering firms (one handling utilities and one handling roadway design).
A motion to recommend the change order to City Council for approval passed by voice vote.
Why it matters: the change raises the project cost materially, uses contingency funds and merits council review because it is a contract amendment for a federally-funded roadway project.
Staff said the engineering division will present the formal change-order paperwork to council; utilities staff flagged the change to the committee to inform members and solicit their recommendation.
