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Council waives bidding and approves change order to complete gravity sewer work using ARPA funds
Summary
Council approved waiving competitive bidding for a Butler/Baggage Street gravity-sewer change order to allow the contractor already on-site to finish work at a lower mobilization cost; staff said the contract will use remaining ARPA-related funding and that a contract must be in place by year-end.
Prairie Grove’s City Council voted Oct. 21 to waive competitive bidding and approve a change order for gravity sewer construction on Butler and Baggage streets so the contractor already working on adjacent work can complete the gravity line at a lower net cost.
Staff said the contractor’s on-site mobilization and equipment reduce overall cost and that the contractor submitted a price “way under” engineer estimates; staff and council cited mobilization savings as a primary justification for waiving bidding. Finance staff explained that earlier ARPA funds and sales-tax bonds paid much of the wastewater plant expansion and that roughly $200,000–$300,000 of ARPA remained available to allocate. A staff member gave an approximate figure of “1.4” million when asked about total change-order dollars, and council approved the resolution to authorize Change Order No. 1 with staff directed to finalize exact numbers for contract documents.
Council members asked for clarity about the justification for waiving formal bidding; staff said the contractor’s existing presence and substantially lower bid made the waiver reasonable and saved mobilization costs. The council approved the waiver and the change order on recorded votes.
Staff noted contracts tied to ARPA funds must be under contract by year end; they will finalize the precise figures and execute the contract so the allocation meets federal timing requirements.
