Orting moves bridge construction forward, formalizes change‑order policy and advances Kansas Street design amendment

The Orting City Council on Jan. 15 approved a set of public‑works actions tied to the city’s evacuation bridge and local street projects and directed staff to formalize change‑order procedures for public‑works contracts.

Bridge start and contingency: Public works staff reported they issued the contractor a notice to proceed for the evacuation bridge on Jan. 13 and said construction activities will begin in the coming weeks. Staff asked council to reallocate existing grant funds into a project contingency line to cover a roughly 8–10% contingency for unanticipated construction costs; council approved the reallocation on consent. City staff said the contingency is drawn from the grant package previously appropriated for the bridge and does not require new local tax revenue.

Change‑order procedure: The council also reviewed a draft change‑order procedure intended to close a gap in how the city handles contract changes on public‑works projects. The written procedure formalizes authority thresholds that already operate in practice: the public‑works director may approve smaller, routine change orders up to a defined amount; the city administrator has a higher threshold; and change orders that exceed the administrator’s threshold will be returned to council. The procedure also directs staff to expedite council review for changes on the project’s critical path to avoid liquidated damages and schedule delays. The council approved the procedure on consent.

Kansas Street design amendment: Council approved a design amendment for the Kansas Street reconstruction project to finalize design work required for upcoming bidding and to fund right‑of‑way acquisition tasks. The amendment reallocates existing BARs (budget appropriation reporting codes) from water, wastewater and storm accounts into the Kansas project budget; staff said some of the construction costs tied to stormwater and water main work can later be reimbursed through state grant programs once bids are received. The total amendment request (including a 10% design contingency) was described in council materials as an internal reallocation of previously budgeted funds and was approved on consent.

Capital projects process briefing: Earlier in the meeting staff delivered a detailed presentation of the city’s capital projects life cycle — from project initiation, grant rules, design and right‑of‑way, to contracting options (design‑bid‑build, design‑build and GC/CM), prevailing‑wage compliance and final closeout tasks such as record drawings and release of retainage. Staff emphasized the importance of avoiding “cardinal changes” (major scope changes that would violate competitive bidding intent) and said federally‑funded work will require additional procurement steps and certified payroll review. City staff will use the procedure to guide future procurement and to reduce the risk of disputes with contractors.

What happens next: Staff said the bridge construction will continue through the spring and into next year and that project managers will return to council with periodic construction updates. The adopted change‑order procedure will be incorporated into the city purchasing policy and used on ongoing and future capital projects.

Ending: Council members noted the need to preserve project schedules, avoid excess cost growth and communicate construction impacts to neighborhoods and schools; staff said they have communications plans in place for the bridge and Kansas Street work.