Project manager Manny Arcuzio of Arcadis told a Chemung County committee that delivery delays for key electrical equipment forced a resequencing of construction for the regional sewer consolidation program and produced a set of negotiated change orders that add roughly $7,000,000 to the construction budget.

"This is something that goes the whole way back to 2022 when we sat in this room and had the pre‑construction meeting," Arcuzio said, describing a supplier delay for backup generators and switchgear that initially created a roughly 24‑month delay and that the project team reduced to an 11‑month delay through rescheduling and fast‑tracking efforts. "We reduced that 24 month delay to 11 months."

Arcuzio said the county’s contracts allow compensable time extensions when contractors can document costs associated with a delay and the change orders reflect negotiated pricing after several months of review. "In total, we're looking at approximately, dollars 7,000,000 between the 2 change orders being added to the new construction budget at this point," Arcuzio said, noting that negotiation reduced the contractors' original claims by about $2,000,000.

Arcadis reported the program remains roughly nine months from contractual substantial completion and that the program retains about $11,200,000 in contingency across contract allowances and the bond resolution buffer. Arcuzio characterized the five change orders on the agenda as the largest program risk to date and said that approving them would reduce schedule risk going into the finish period. "We're roughly 9 months out from the program's contractual substantial completion date, and we have $11,200,000 of contingency remaining to get us through any significant unforeseens that might come up," he said.

Committee members pressed on recovery details and on whether the supplier faces penalties. Arcuzio confirmed contracts include liquidated damages provisions and said the project team was pursuing penalties as a negotiating tool while also finalizing total costs associated with interim power work, including a pending power service extension from NYSEG. He said preliminary calculations of potential liquidated damages for late supplier delivery could total roughly $3.5 million, subject to contractual milestone calculations and negotiation.

Arcuzio and on‑site engineer Evan Williams answered questions about the composition of the change orders and the types of costs included — labor, resequencing, mobilization of specialty subcontractors and expedited equipment delivery — and said supporting documentation was available in the materials provided to legislators.

After the presentation, the legislature read and approved a set of resolutions tied to the sewer consolidation work, including change orders with Jet Industries Inc., Streeter Associates Inc., Fry & Campbell Inc., HMI Mechanical Systems Inc., Hewitt Young Electric LLC and others, and a series of purchase and amendment agreements for chemicals, monitoring equipment and engineering services. Committee motions to approve the change orders and related purchase agreements were called and carried by voice vote.

Arcuzio said final completion — including site restoration, paving and final landscaping — is expected in September (the final completion milestone beyond substantial completion), and he recommended continued oversight as the program enters the last contract months.