Bloomer council pauses work on substation change order, asks engineers to appear July 15

The Bloomer Common Council on July 1 voted to instruct the city administrator to halt any work related to a recently submitted change order from MJ Electric for the substation project and to request that the project engineers attend the council’s July 15 meeting to provide further clarification. Alderperson Jenneman moved the instruction, seconded by Alderperson Reischel; minutes record the motion carried.

The motion followed an earlier closed-session discussion that cited Wis. Stat. §19.85(1)(e) for deliberations involving bargaining and strategy concerning the substation change order and the sale of subdivision lots. In open session the council specifically directed staff to “put a hold on any work as it relates to the recently submitted change order that was verbally approved and request the engineers to attend the July 15th meeting to get further clarification and explanation on the change order details and why so much dirt needs to be removed,” per the motion text.

Why it matters: pausing work and requiring engineers to appear gives the council and public a chance to review the technical justification and cost implications of a contractor change order before additional work proceeds. The minutes do not record a detailed vote tally for this motion beyond the notation that the motion carried.

What’s next: the engineers were requested to attend the July 15 meeting to explain the change order; the minutes do not record whether the engineers had already begun work under the verbal approval or the dollar amount of the change order.