Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Treatment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council accepts water plant work as substantially complete amid change orders and 42‑day extension
Summary
The Monroe City Council accepted substantial completion of the Water Treatment Plant expansion, approved a $136,000 change order and a 42‑day extension, and discussed more than $2 million in cumulative change orders on the roughly $48 million project.
The Monroe City Council on Aug. 13 accepted as substantially complete Phase 2 of the Monroe Water Treatment Plant renovation and expansion and approved a $136,000 change order that adds 42 days to the project schedule.
Water System Manager Sean Benton told the Council that construction required a re-rating and additional testing equipment. "When building a brand new facility to connect to an old facility it will be a lot of things you won’t see," Benton said, explaining some unforeseen costs and timing adjustments.
City Engineer Morgan McCallister said much of the added time relates to north entry road repairs and other building-code and HVAC updates. He said cumulative change orders now total "over $2 million" on a project McCallister described as roughly $48 million, or about 5% over the original contract.
Council member McFarland pressed for tighter controls on future contract extensions, saying the City must "double down" on managing time and cost. On the bills that funded the project, Council member Muhammad thanked residents for sacrifices made on utility bills and asked the Council to consider halting automatic increases tied to the plant until the body reviews the policy.
The Council unanimously approved the change order and the acceptance of substantial completion subject to punch-list items. The resolution approving Amendment No. 8 and Change Order No. 15 were adopted without public comment. The plant remains in production while crews complete remaining items, officials said.
