Committee holds final pay request for South Brainerd resurfacing pending review of possible workmanship costs

The Brainerd City Safety and Public Works Committee voted to hold a final payment request for a South Brainerd street resurfacing project while staff checks whether additional costs were tied to contractor workmanship.

Engineer Jesse presented Final Payment Request No. 2 for Improvement 2316, describing the project area (Buffalo Hills neighborhood) and stating the final request at $42,541.50; he said the overall project totaled just under $660,000. Jesse provided a breakdown of the street resurfacing portion and the water-fund work in the packet.

Councilmembers asked which streets were included (Jesse said Belray, Graden, Ridge, Carol and others) and discussed a resident complaint about water not flowing properly at one driveway, which the contractor patched. Members raised the concern that the city should not pay for contractor workmanship errors. Jesse said he could not immediately confirm whether additional contractor charges for that specific driveway had been billed as a separate change order or handled through existing pay items and quantities.

Because of that uncertainty, a councilmember moved to hold the final payment request until staff reviewed the contract quantities and payment items to determine whether any portion of the final payment covered workmanship issues. The motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.

Staff said the hold is intended to allow staff to examine quantity breakdowns and confirm whether additional charges are legitimate before the city closes out the contract.