Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Construction Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Officials say Civic Center demolition and conservation work remains within budget despite change orders
Summary
Council members and administration staff addressed media reports that the Civic Center demolition and related work were $2 million over budget, explaining budget vs. contract-value differences and approving change orders for demolition and mosaic preservation.
City officials on June 3 told the Mobile City Council that the Civic Center demolition and preservation work remains within the budget set by the council despite recent change orders and media reports suggesting otherwise.
Administration representatives said the council originally budgeted $8.1 million for the demolition phase; the demolition contract was awarded at about $4.5 million, and the administration reported $6.3 million invested with the demolition contractor to date, leaving the project roughly $1.8 million "to the good" relative to the budget.
Why it matters: large municipal construction projects commonly prompt questions about scope changes and change orders. The administration said recent change orders covered mosaic removal and preservation and surcharging the site to accelerate the construction timeline. Officials also said using on-site dirt to assist another project yielded savings.
What officials said An administration speaker explained the budget and contract-value difference and said change orders were needed to remove and preserve mosaics and to surcharge the site so construction could begin on schedule. "We are about $1,800,000 to the good as far as what we set aside for the budget," the administration said, adding, "the math does not lie." Council members and staff also described a $300,000 savings achieved by transferring site dirt to another project rather than paying to source fill off-site.
Earlier in the meeting, council members asked whether a municipal project can be bid without a complete site plan or certificate of appropriateness from the Architectural Review Board. A city attorney said a contractor can bid without full plans, "it's not the best way to do it, but you could." The administration later presented and the council approved change orders numbers 3 and 4 with Savor Demolition Corporation for Civic Center new construction and demolition.
Discussion vs. action The council held discussion and received explanations from administration and staff about budget accounting (discussion). The council then voted to approve the presented change orders for the demolition contractor (formal action). The administration said the demolition contractor is preparing to demobilize and payment was being processed.
Ending Council members urged clearer public explanations when change orders appear on the agenda so media reports do not misinterpret budget status. The administration said it will provide periodic fiscal clarifications so the public understands the difference between budgeted authorizations and contract values.
