Martin County approves multiple budget amendments and amends Wooten engineering contract for Business Park work

Martin County’s Board of Commissioners approved a set of budget amendments and an engineering contract amendment at its May 12 meeting that adjust county appropriations, transfer funds between funds, and increase engineering fees to cover additional construction administration and observation work at the Business Park.

Finance Officer Cindy Ange described a series of budget changes the board approved by separate motions. Highlights include Budget Amendment #35, which appropriates $159,000 from fund balance to cover increased landfill and recycling processing costs; #36, which draws $50,000 from the Emergency Telephone Fund for communications maintenance and technology contracts; and amendments #37 and #38, which move $7,500 to the Business Park Fund for engineering fees. Other amendments included reclassification and budgeting changes tied to recent GASB fiduciary reporting updates and a Representative Payee Fund appropriation of $250,000 to account for client funds previously reported in agency funds; a small discretionary Net Initiative award ($1,570) for juvenile programs was also accepted.

Separately, the board approved Amendment No. 1 to the engineering services contract with The Wooten Company for the Business Park water-infrastructure rehabilitation and sewer expansion project. County staff described construction delays and system impacts linked to the prime contractors on two contracts (Herring-Rivenbark and Utility Services). The amendment increases the construction administration fee by $4,100 (to $34,100) and the construction observation fee by $3,400 (to $85,900), producing a revised total contract figure of $213,000.

Board members approved each budget amendment and the contract amendment by recorded motion and unanimous votes (motions and seconds recorded in the minutes). The Wooten Company’s presentation during the meeting included an assertion that some water-system debris and reliability issues stemmed from a contractor’s work product; county staff approved the amendment to fund additional oversight while further technical follow-up continues.

The approvals authorize staff to expend the newly budgeted funds and to proceed with amended engineering services; any procurement or construction-change orders will follow standard county purchasing policies and require additional review if necessary.