Council approves $30,741 amendment to lift-station design; legal question on side sewers prompts attorney review

The Lake Forest Park City Council authorized an amendment to its design contract with Consort North America to add $30,741 in scope for side sewer site visits, survey work and related 30% design tasks for the Beach Drive lift-station replacement project.

Why it matters: The additional design work addresses private side sewer connections for five homes adjacent to the project area. Council members raised legal questions about whether the city’s work on private laterals could be an improper gift of public funds; the city attorney advised that providing the work is meant to avoid potential takings claims because the city’s project would otherwise strand private connections.

Project manager Mara Phillips told council the city has two aging lift stations at the site and proposes to replace them with a single new station near the future lakefront park and Civic Club parcels. The five nearby homes have laterals routed toward the lake; the new alignment requires new laterals, and designing those laterals must occur early to determine depths and alignment.

Consort’s Amendment No. 1 adds a site visit focused on side sewers, an additional residential plumbing visit, engineering drawings for laterals, and subconsultant survey work. The amendment increases the 30% design fee from $225,074 to $255,815. Phillips said the amendment brings forward work that otherwise would have been performed in a later phase and that sufficient funds exist in the Sewer Capital Fund to cover the $30,741 amendment.

Several council members asked about funding risks if the full project grows well beyond the current CIP estimate of about $3.074 million; finance and public-works staff said the fund has over $3 million today but that construction is not scheduled until late 2027 and revenues and funding options will be reviewed as the project advances.

Council briefly debated waiving the three-touch rule to consider the amendment at the same meeting. One council member withdrew a motion to waive pending legal confirmation. The city attorney subsequently advised the council that the amendment is defensible because the city’s project would otherwise create the condition that might give rise to takings claims; the council then unanimously waived the three-touch rule and adopted the resolution authorizing the amendment.

Ending: Council directed staff to obtain a written legal opinion on the authority to perform side-sewer work and to return with a fuller funding plan at the next touch point; staff said they would schedule homeowner site visits promptly to meet the consultant’s December 31 deadline for 30% design.