Committee ratifies roughly $50,800 in change orders for fire station renovations

The City of Charleston finance committee on Monday approved Resolution 26‑17 to ratify six change orders tied to ongoing renovations at Fire Stations 2 and 4 and minor work at Station 8.

Mister Michaud told the committee contractors and an external consultant recommended full replacement of exterior gas plumbing discovered to be leaking after walls were removed. "We had an external consultant come in, review it, and agree with Persinger and Associates … we recommended also that we just do the full replacement," he said.

He said roughly $21,000 in change orders had already been approved administratively and the resolution would authorize about $29,000 more, producing a cumulative total of approximately $50,762.74 if approved.

Committee members pressed for details about the plumbing issue. One member asked whether the problem was "gas lines or gas and plumbing issues," to which Mister Michaud replied it was gas lines. Another member reported neighborhood gas smells and said the gas company previously told the city the line was too small to serve the station; that member added, "It was $9,000 for the Band Aid repairs, roughly, and, like, 17,000 to do them all." Mister Michaud noted the main‑to‑meter line had been upgraded to a 2‑inch line and the work will include new internal appliances.

The chair called the question and declared the ayes had it, adopting Resolution 26‑17.

The action ratifies prior administrative approvals and authorizes staff to proceed with the additional change orders as described by staff.