Council OKs schedule to increase rec center contract and pay architects for additional design work; roof addition and contract amendments advance to regular

Parks and Recreation Director Ted Davis told the Livonia City Council on Feb. 24 that design and scope changes to the Senior Wellness Center and the adjacent Recreation Center necessitated two contract changes: (1) an amendment to the construction manager’s AIA agreement to add a new roof over the main and Mack gyms, increasing the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the project by $715,000 to a revised GMP of $26,220,610.33; and (2) an additional appropriation of $222,766.28 for out-of-scope architectural services to Hubbell, Roth & Clark (HRC) that the city says are needed because of design revisions, interior finish changes and additional bid bulletins.

Why this matters: Davis said the existing roof is about 20 years old, has failing skylights and would have left newly renovated interior spaces under an older, leaking roof. He argued re-roofing the gyms as part of the current construction period would be more economical than delaying the work to a later capital project. Parks staff said part of the roof work is funded from the Parks and Recreation millage (208 unexpended fund balance) and that the city pursued qualified bids for the work.

Council questions and context: Council members asked about the funding source, capital-plan timing and whether additional amendments should be expected. Davis said the roof work had been in the capital improvement plan but was value-engineered out earlier; staff later decided it was prudent to include the work now to avoid future higher costs. He said HRC remains the low-cost firm overall even after the proposed additional appropriation. Council members asked about the project budget and whether any surplus would be returned to the city; staff said any remaining contingency would revert per normal accounting practice. Several council members asked that remaining bid bulletins be completed and noted the city had previously considered outside program managers for other large projects.

Action and next steps: Council accepted the presentation and placed the contract amendments on the regular (voting) agenda for formal action; council members signaled support for advancing the items for vote at the regular meeting. Staff said remaining bid bulletins (items 8–11) will be finalized and that the city will monitor overall project expenditures.

Ending: The roof amendment and the architectural out-of-scope appropriation were scheduled for the council’s regular (voting) agenda; no final spending was authorized until the formal vote at the regular meeting.