Council approves Utica Park change orders, allocates ARPA funds to complete lighting and landscaping

An Angels Camp City Council majority on Jan. 7 approved change orders and a budget adjustment for Utica Park’s completion, voting to fund the immediate lighting and landscaping needs largely from the city’s ARPA balance.

The council approved amended change order 4 (speed cushions), change order 5 (additional lighting and wiring), and change order 6 (landscaping and irrigation work), and authorized a budget adjustment that includes a $3,000 contingency. Council members agreed to defer two optional items — full repaving of the parking lot and an artificial-turf option for bocce courts — for separate consideration.

The vote followed a lengthy presentation from project staff and contractor representatives explaining cost increases. Amy (staff presenter) told the council that initial budgets were based on pre‑COVID estimates and that inflation, added scope items and the need to replace an old irrigation system together drove the new requests. She said landscaping, including an irrigation replacement, accounted for the largest single increase and that a substantial portion of the landscaping cost — roughly $110,000 — is irrigation work not originally scoped.

City Administrator Steve reviewed funding options and told the council the city had roughly $360,264.56 remaining in its ARPA account. Staff recommended covering the immediate change orders by splitting costs between ARPA and the general fund, but multiple council members said they preferred using ARPA and one motion ultimately instructed staff to fund the approved change orders 100% from ARPA, with optional items 7 and 8 tabled.

Contractor representatives and Boyer (prime contractor) participated remotely to answer technical questions. Speakers described the lighting work as including four new poles (two replacing existing PG&E poles and two new poles between the stage and bathrooms) plus trenching and control wiring; the $34,430 line item identified in the proposal covered the poles and installation labor while an additional trenching estimate of roughly $15,000 was listed separately. Contractors said the specified fixtures are commercial-grade, dark‑sky LED units selected for durability and dimmable controls; staff said the city is pursuing a $30,000 lighting grant from the Calaveras Public Power Agency (CPPA) to offset part of that cost.

On landscaping, staff said bids showed much higher costs than earlier estimates because the existing irrigation infrastructure had to be removed and fully replaced; staff presented an alternate vendor estimate that supported the reasonableness of the chosen contractor’s price but said some valve counts could be reduced to trim cost. Council members asked for additional detail on site‑condition clauses in the landscaping subcontract and asked staff to seek clarifications or limits on open‑ended charges for rock or unexpected debris.

The council also discussed bocce-court surfacing. Oyster shells were included in the contract but council members said artificial turf would reduce ongoing maintenance. Staff said artificial turf would add about $37,000 to the current cost and suggested fundraising as one option; the council left that optional item for later.

Votes at a glance: the council voted to (a) approve change orders 4, 5 and 6 and the associated budget adjustment (including the $3,000 contingency); (b) direct staff to use ARPA funds to cover the approved work; and (c) table optional change orders 7 (repaving) and 8 (artificial turf for bocce).

Staff said that several external funding opportunities were still being pursued (PG&E resilience grant, CPPA lighting grant, and a possible $60,000 state contribution for a Mark Twain statue) and that any awards would be brought back to council for direction about where to credit the receipts. Staff also said scheduling and seasonal considerations (landscaping is best performed in cooler, wetter months) made prompt approval of underground work preferable to avoid remobilizing crews later.

Council asked staff to: (1) seek CPPA funding for the two replacement poles first, (2) get clearer, limited language from the landscape subcontractor on site‑condition change orders and daily rates, (3) return with detail on oyster‑shell vs. artificial‑turf maintenance and lifecycle costs, and (4) present any awarded grants back to council with a recommended accounting treatment for returned or external funds.

The council’s decision permits the contractor to proceed with site work that includes trenching, lighting installation and irrigation replacement so the park can be completed without redigging previously finished areas.