Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Contracts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Trumbull County approves Meadowbrook sewer contracts and engineering change orders amid process concerns
Summary
The board approved major engineering modifications and two construction contracts for Meadowbrook sanitary sewer improvements, including an $805,550 engineering modification and a $13 million construction contract, while one commissioner raised process and procurement concerns and abstained on some votes.
The Trumbull County Board of Commissioners approved multiple large contracts and scope changes Nov. 13 for county water and sewer projects, including significant engineering modification increases and construction awards for the Meadowbrook Sanitary Sewer Improvements project.
Modification Number 1 to the Burgess & Niple engineering agreement for Meadowbrook (County Project 29‑S‑97) increased the contract by $805,550, revising the total to $2,290,015 to cover additional design services for a packaged wastewater treatment plant, construction administration, inspection, project closeout and as-built drawings. The board approved the modification, with Commissioner Frenchko voting no and raising procedural concerns about large post‑award scope changes.
The board also awarded two construction contracts for Meadowbrook: Contract A to APO Horro Company at $13,040,000 for construction of a 325,000‑gallon‑per‑day packaged wastewater treatment plant, to be paid from the Ohio Public Works Commission, Appalachian Regional Commission and Ohio EPA Water Pollution Control Loan Fund; and Contract B to Woodford Excavating LLC for $3,998,000 to construct the sanitary collection system. Both awards were approved after discussion. Commissioner Frenchko abstained on at least one award, citing late receipt of agenda materials and insufficient time to review the documents.
During debate on an earlier agenda item to modify the engineering agreement for a separate water improvements project, sanitary engineer Gary Newbrow said phase boundaries were contiguous and described merging work between phases, explaining some field activity overlapped with the newly authorized scope. Commissioner Frenchko questioned whether work had been performed before the board approved modifications and reiterated the need to present modifications for board approval before work begins. Newbrow said some field tasks bordered adjacent phases and that he negotiated the price; he characterized the additional cost as fair given the expanded scope.
The contracts name multiple funding sources: the APO Horro contract lists payments from the Ohio Public Works Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Ohio EPA Water Pollution Control Loan Fund. The board recorded motions, seconds and roll call answers for each item in the meeting minutes.
