Lake County approves $16,200 amendment to Harrison Park master-plan contract after debate over unpaid work and budget transparency

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve an amendment to the professional services agreement (PSA) with SE Group for additional services on the Harrison Park master plan, adding $16,200 to the contract and raising the total to $205,922.50.

The amendment covers several items the consultant said were already completed or in process: coordination for a second open house, a timeline extension to Aug. 1, a materials/survey memo, and a supplemental traffic study. Jackie Wellahan, who led the presentation, said the amendment includes a $6,000 increase for the traffic engineer and additional costs for advertising and coordination.

Why it matters: commissioners sought clearer documentation before approving extra spending, saying they were new to the file and had not received materials in time to review. The consultant warned that refusal to approve payment for work already performed would delay further work or reduce the quality of future deliverables unless the county shifted money from other design budgets.

Jackie Wellahan, lead on the Harrison Park item, said the additional open-house work "was requested by the previous commissioners" and that the firm tracked the hours and expenses. "This amendment to the PSA [is] a total amendment of $16,200, raising your overall contract to $205,922.50," she said.

Gabby, a SE Group team member who attended the meeting, told commissioners the additional coordination time was estimated "at eight hours a month" over four extra months and that actual hours would be tracked and reported in monthly invoices. She said the traffic engineer's final bid came in about $6,000 higher than the original November estimate after reducing the scope to the minimum necessary.

Several commissioners pushed for more transparent documentation before the vote. One commissioner said many of the supporting documents arrived only minutes before the meeting and requested a one-on-one meeting with Jackie to review line-item invoices and remaining budgets. Wellahan responded the invoices include detailed time notes and receipts and that most of the amendment work had already been completed over a period that included the holidays.

Commissioner Elsa (first name used in the record) emphasized that the work had been requested by the community and that denying payment for work already performed would harm relationships and the project's momentum. "We can ensure the quality is there throughout the project," she said when urging approval.

The board voted to approve the amendment after additional assurances that monthly billing would clearly separate the additional coordination hours and show whether the estimated allowance was spent.

Funding and process notes: county staff said the project is primarily funded with grant dollars, and Wellahan confirmed the work would be charged to the grant budget. She said some architecture and engineering budgets remain unspent and that, if necessary, unused portions of those contracts could be reduced to cover the amendment. Commissioners requested clearer, earlier notice of any future change orders.

What's next: Wellahan offered to meet with any commissioner one-on-one to review the full scope and budget and to provide more detailed monthly reporting on the time included in the amendment. The board and staff agreed to set up that follow-up meeting.

Ending: The amendment passed on a roll call of ayes, and staff will proceed with invoicing and monthly reporting as described.