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Callahan County approves final change orders, adds contingency for courthouse restoration
Summary
Callahan County Commissioners approved three change orders — landscaping, additional security/electrical routing and a contingency increase — to finish the courthouse restoration and annex work, after staff explained funding sources and contingency history.
Callahan County Commissioners on Feb. 10 approved three proposed change orders tied to the county courthouse restoration and annex project, including landscaping, extra electrical/security routing and added contingency to help finish remaining work.
Staff told commissioners that PCO 52 covers landscaping and irrigation under JC Stoddard's contract, and that a local contractor, Texas Grass Sheelgrove, provided a quote for the full landscaping package. "The hundred and 77,000, which is the actual quote from Texas Grass Sheelgrove, is by all accounts pretty reasonable," a facilities representative said. The facilities team said landscaping had been pulled out of the original GMP and would be paid from the general fund because bond funds were already committed.
PCO 53 addresses additional wiring, card readers and camera controllers required for the building's security system. Staff described line items for routing: "Basement/first floor is about $11,000, [and] second/third floor is about $32,000," a county project manager said. He told commissioners those costs reflected work subcontractors discovered after initial bids were set.
Commissioners were also shown the contingency history for the project. Staff said the original GMP included $300,000 in contingency, of which $107,000 had been shifted earlier. They proposed adding $250,000 of contingency now to provide Stoddard and its subcontractors flexibility late in the project so work would not stall for every small change. "All the change orders will still come to court, but it does allow Stoddard the capability to deal with their subcontractors" without frequent court delays, the project manager said.
Staff emphasized that specific change orders will still be presented to the court for review and that some PCO line items will be deducted from the new contingency, as noted in the PCO documents. Commissioners asked whether irrigation had been damaged; staff said much of the prior irrigation had been removed or damaged and that the proposed new system would cover plantings, trees and grounds and would be designed to be more resilient to wind.
Commissioner Farmer moved to approve the three change orders; Commissioner Williams seconded. The court voted in favor with no opposition recorded on the audio.
The county will present any formal change orders and accounting adjustments to the court as the work progresses; staff said they expect to present a final rededication date once punch-list items and inspections are complete.
