Indianapolis Board of Public Works approves package of engineering and stormwater contract amendments

The Indianapolis Board of Public Works on Oct. 22 approved a package of contract amendments to extend agreement expiration dates, update rate schedules and provide additional funding for engineering, inspection and stormwater services. The board approved each amendment by voice vote; no opposing votes were recorded on the transcript.

The actions covered a mix of on-call agreements and a project-specific amendment. Eric Servin, project compliance analyst with the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, opened the discussion by asking the board to accept the public street associated with the “allowed in place” subdivision, section 1. The board approved the street acceptance before moving through the series of contract amendments.

Most amendments extended contract expiration dates to late 2026 or 2027 and updated hourly compensation schedules; several increased not-to-exceed amounts. A project-specific amendment for SD-30-072 (Holt Road and Minnesota Avenue area drainage improvements) increased the agreement with Fleiss and Vanderbrink, Inc., by $98,153.98 to a new not-to-exceed total of $376,153.98. Natalie Stevens, stormwater program manager, told the board that scope changes, coordination with other entities and utility work had delayed the project: “some of the scope had changed. We were coordinating with other entities like Indigo ... and then utilities have been a big delay for us.”

Mark St. John, chief engineer, described the change in one on-call agreement that covers bike infrastructure design, saying the firm primarily assists the city’s bike-ped coordinator on the Neighborways program and related low-traffic bike routes: “this is primarily…