Council approves change orders, time extensions for reverse osmosis plant addition

The Seward City Council voted unanimously to approve a small-cost change order and parallel time extensions tied to the city’s reverse osmosis (RO) plant expansion.

Public Works staff described two linked contract items for the project: a $4,547.95 change order to Erickson Construction to cover electrical work connecting a factory-built RO skid to the plant’s main control panel, and a “no-cost” change order to the equipment procurement contract with R and R Systems that extends the supplier’s completion date. Both actions accompany a nine-week extension of the contracts’ substantial-completion deadlines because several components — notably valve actuators from the manufacturer used by the city and a cartridge pre-filter — are delayed by upstream supply-chain issues.

The presenter said the skid was being built in Florida and that valve actuators (the electronic devices that sit on valves and receive automated control signals) are currently backordered from the manufacturer; a delivery date had not been confirmed. The general contractor’s equipment was expected to arrive in early March, with the actuator deliveries arriving separately in April; staff set a new substantial-completion date of June 17, 2025.

Council moved and approved the change order for Erickson Construction and the procurement contract extension for R and R Systems by unanimous vote.

City staff said the change order amount represents about 1.3% of the relevant contract line items and covers conduit, wiring and labor by the electrical subcontractor. No additional budget appropriation was reported at the meeting; staff did not present a revised project budget during the discussion.