Council approves $726,457 change order for McMahon Auditorium asbestos abatement

The Lawton City Council voted to approve Change Order No. 1 for the McMahon Auditorium Addition and Renovation, adjusting the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) to reflect additional asbestos abatement and ceiling replacement.

The change order corrects a typographical error in the agenda documents and increases the contract value by $726,457.20; the previously reported GMP of $7,333,138.45 will increase to $8,059,595.65 and the contract will be extended by 70 calendar days.

City engineering staff told the council the additional asbestos was found in the auditorium ceiling and some attic piping during ongoing work. "The additional asbestos that was found at that time was in the ceiling and then some pipes in the attic," a city engineering staff member said. The staff member also noted a typographical error in the agenda memo and requested a floor amendment to correct the dollar amount to match the change-order document included in the packet.

Council took a motion to approve with the corrected amount. One councilor, Lynn, registered an abstention during the vote; the motion carried.

The change order is to the city's Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) contract with CDBL Incorporated. Representatives of the architect, engineering staff and CDBL were present at the meeting but did not provide additional public comment during the vote.

The council did not provide additional conditions on the change order during the meeting; staff and the construction manager will be responsible for implementing the abatement and ceiling replacement under the amended contract timeline.