Wallsburg council receives water project wrap-up, approves change order for final punch-list work

The Wallsburg Town Council on Feb. 6 was presented a final status and budget report on the town's water system improvement project and approved a contractor change order to finish remaining punch-list items.

Derek Anderson, who presented the wrap-up, told the council the new water tank and water lines are online and that a certificate of substantial completion has been issued. "The project is operational, and substantially complete," Anderson said during the meeting.

Anderson walked the council through the finances and remaining items. He said the original contract was roughly $4.0 million and that change orders pushed the contract price higher during construction, but the final accounting showed the project came in under the adjusted contract by roughly $473,000. The total town cost reported at the meeting was $4,744,937 (the speaker's figures), with the town responsible for about half of that amount under the grant/zero-interest loan arrangement. Anderson also listed several optional change orders totaling roughly $88,000 that remain for council consideration.

Key items the council authorized in a single change order vote included concrete collars around valve boxes and manholes, replacement of the well-house flow meter and pressure sensor, excavation of a buried drain valve, and emptying the old tank that remains filled but disconnected from the system. Anderson said concrete collars would protect valve boxes from vehicle and snowplow damage, the flow meter/pressure sensor replacement would restore a nonfunctional emergency sensing component, and that the old tank's drain valve had been found buried and would need excavation to empty roughly "about 2,510,000 gallons," as described during the meeting.

Council members asked about specific items before voting. The council discussed the contractor's unit price for the concrete collars ($600 per valve box; about 34 boxes was noted as a reference), a contractor estimate of about $57,000 to import 6 inches of topsoil to reseed the tank-site scars, and an $8,300 price for replacing the flow meter and pressure sensor inside the well house. Several council members expressed concern that imported topsoil might wash off the very rocky slopes around the tank and suggested removing that item from the change order if costs needed trimming.

The council then moved and voted to accept the change order to add concrete collars as needed, purchase and install the new flow meter and pressure sensor, dig up the old drain line valve, and empty the existing tank. The motion passed unanimously.

The presentation also noted remaining work items the contractor will complete on a punch list; most items are scheduled to be done within weeks, with paving of Willow Valley Road postponed until warmer weather in spring.

The council directed staff to continue coordinating with the contractor on the punch list, to provide finalized numbers for any optional items (for example, which valve boxes are in road segments that will be repaved), and to return any remaining budget or scope decisions to the council for final sign-off.

The council asked that change-order paperwork be routed through Alicia O'Driscoll for signature and further coordination with project lead Scott Larson.

The wrap-up and votes leave the new tank and distribution main carrying water to the town while a short list of protective and cleanup tasks is completed.