Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Contracts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves $5,300 change order after members press for clearer process
Summary
Brainerd City Council approved a $5,300 change order for the Right & 10th reconstruction project after engineers found and tested potentially contaminated soil. Several council members pressed staff over decisions made outside full council and directed staff to provide a report on the decision-making process at the next meeting.
Brainerd City Council voted to approve a $5,300 change order Wednesday for extra labor and equipment tied to the Right & 10th Street reconstruction project, and directed staff to report back on how project-scope decisions were made.
City Engineer Jesse Dean told council staff and the contractor had to isolate and test material found during construction; testing came back negative, enabling reuse. Dean said the change order reimburses contractor hours and equipment for the additional on-site work the city ordered.
Councilmember Chzach said part of the project had been suspended until next year and asked why that suspension and other timing changes were handled outside a full public meeting. “We are acting as the people’s representatives. This is the city’s business. It's supposed to be done in this room in public view and it was not,” Chzach said, pressing for transparency.
Administrator Broyals said he has scheduled meetings with Crowing County and Baxter about outstanding transit items referenced in the council’s suspense tracker and agreed to update the tracker. The council ultimately approved the $5,300 change order and then approved a follow-up motion directing staff to return in two weeks with a detailed report explaining what decisions were made, when, and by whom.
The follow-up direction was intended to clarify whether any project-scope changes arose from council leadership meetings or staff actions taken without full-council authorization. The council did not rescind the change-order approval; the additional action asks staff to document the timeline and inform the full council.
The project-level change order covers only the extra work related to the tested soils; Dean said the tests prevented more costly off-site hauling and disposal. The council did not amend the contract scope beyond that compensation and did not direct a change in the contractor or timeline tonight.
Next steps: staff will prepare the requested report on decision points, leadership meetings and any process gaps and present it at the next council meeting, per the council’s direction.
