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Finance committee recommends $76,700 change order for digester building staircase, citing operator safety
Summary
The LaSalle Finance Committee recommended approving a roughly $76,700 addition to the digester project at 400 River Street for a staircase and handrail, citing safety after the facility was converted from anaerobic to aerobic operation; funding would use remaining loan contingency and sewer-fund dollars.
The LaSalle Finance Committee voted to recommend that the full council approve a change order to add a staircase and handrail to the Digester Control Building at 400 River Street, a project described by staff as a safety-driven add-on tied to the facility—s conversion from anaerobic to aerobic operation.
Alderman Herndon moved the recommendation and Alderman Reynolds seconded; the committee recorded unanimous approval in roll call. Committee discussion focused on cost, procurement and available funding. Committee member and city staff said the item is part of the originally bid project team—s scope and that the contractor who is on site was the only responsive installer in the packet of solicitations.
City staff member Brian said engineers negotiated the contractor—s installation estimate down by reducing billed installation hours: “Will thought it should be about 200 hours and they had initially submitted 280. So we worked with them to get them down to 200 hours. So we reduced this — work or this change order by about $10,000 with Donahue helping assist in getting that reduced.” He added the city has a low-interest loan for the digester project and that about $40,000 to $44,000 remains in contingency; that amount could be applied toward the roughly $76,700 change order but the remainder would come from the sewer fund.
Contractor/consultant Terry described the operational reason for the work: “So in the in the past, your digester was an anaerobic digester that had a cover on it, and there wasn't too much access needed to the top. ... now that we've converted it to an aerobic digester, make it a lot safer for the operators, there's a lot more access needed to the top.” Committee members said structural engineers reviewed the pricing and that the work fits within the project—s contract documents as an add-on. Committee members also noted it would be unlikely that another contractor paying prevailing wage would underbid the current contractor given the site familiarity.
Public commenter Dina Hicks asked whether multiple bids were solicited and whether the committee could see bid documents. Staff replied that the prime contractor solicited subcontractor bids and that only one responsive bid was in the committee packet; staff also said they asked firms to provide quotes and sought to negotiate hours and pricing.
Roll-call votes were recorded as aye from Alderman Ambassador, Alderman Reynolds, Alderman Laverre, Alderman Jepsen, Alderman Herndon and Alderman Crane; the recommendation passed. The committee did not set a final funding approval or timeline; staff said the recommendation would go to the council for formal authorization and that funding would be split between loan contingency and the sewer fund as described.
