Pool committee says change orders totaled 4.5% and saved city roughly $1.06 million

Todd, a member of the pool committee, told the Canton City Commission that the municipal pool project’s change orders total about 4.5% and that outcome shows the project has been managed tightly despite the committee’s decision not to hire a single general contractor.

Todd said the project began with planning contingencies in the 6% range and that change orders up to 10% are common in construction. “The change orders for the project total 4.5%,” he said, adding, “So we’re well under that.” He described the decision to break the work into multiple contracts and have the pool committee oversee coordination as responsible for roughly $1,063,000 in savings compared with the last general-contractor bid the city received.

The committee described several specific change-order items. A water-heater layout error in the engineers’ CAD model required a swap to tankless water heaters; Todd said the engineers credited the city for that change and the swap produced a more efficient outcome “that didn’t cost us any money.” He also said FEMA updated its concession-window standards after the building was designed, and that FEMA requires metal roller shutters that were not in the original design. Todd said FEMA will pay 80% of the shutter cost and that the committee’s net expense for an $18,000 shutter item is about $3,600. He said some glass vendors volunteered upgrades or absorbed costs so the city didn’t pay more overall.

Todd reviewed scope reductions the committee used to control costs, including removing certain play features, diving boards and some interior finishes from the initial bid packages. He said the committee later prioritized painting the pool deck with a non-slip floor coating for safety, even though wall paint and other cosmetic items were deferred to save money and meet grant timelines.

On funding, Todd presented a funding package that included a $2.8 million bond, a $1.1 million revenue sales-tax allocation, a $400,000 land-and-water grant, FEMA grants (an original FEMA award cited at roughly $816,000 plus an additional nearly $700,000 from FEMA after COVID-related inflation was demonstrated), and about $67,000 in external pledges. He said the city’s base bid without a general contractor was about $5.9 million versus an original general-contractor package that was just over $7 million.

Todd summarized the committee’s financial contributions and purchases as approximately $464,000 in direct spending and $203,000 in donations turned over directly to the city. He said total change orders recorded on his materials were about $274,000. “By having the committee serve as a general contractor…you can see the savings of over a million dollars,” he said.

The presentation closed with questions from the commission and an outside engineer, who expressed interest in the city’s RFQ process for future engineering services. The commission did not take a separate formal vote on the project during this presentation; the pool committee’s report was received for the record.