Council authorizes manager to seek reductions on $68,000 inspection/CM increase for Hosienda road project

La Habra Heights—ouncil authorized the city manager to negotiate a reduction to a $68,000 increase in construction-management and inspection charges on the Hosienda road safety-improvement and signal project and, if negotiations fail, to pay the additional amount to close out the project.

Staff told the council the original award for the project was about $900,000 and that the construction component approached $1 million; additional CM/inspection hours were required as the signal installation extended longer than expected. Staff estimated roughly 12–14 working days of extra CM/inspection time were connected to a design error related to pole height and said the city could attempt to pursue errors-and-omissions recovery but that doing so could jeopardize the contractor ssistance in submitting Caltrans reimbursement paperwork.

After council discussion about potential recovery and the legal costs of pursuing a claim, the mayor moved that the city manager be authorized to negotiate a reduction of the $68,000 NV5 bill and, if he cannot secure an acceptable reduction, to pay the additional charge; a second was recorded and the motion carried with one "no" vote.

A council member suggested seeking a negotiated reduction tied to the portion of the overrun attributable to the height-error (estimated at roughly $12,000–$15,000), while also noting NV5 historically submits CM/inspection costs under awarded amounts. Staff said remaining work includes detection calibration, final striping and signage to complete the project.

Council directed staff to pursue Caltrans reimbursement where available and to return with negotiated outcomes or closure documentation.