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Council allows contractor to perform limited indoor work during wastewater plant winter shutdown to speed completion
Summary
Council voted to allow the wastewater plant contractor, RSCI, to run abbreviated crews for indoor, non-covered work during the winter shutdown, with Forsgren providing periodic quality-control inspections and inspectors' hours tracked against remaining contract inspection time to avoid budget overrun.
The Town of West Yellowstone council on Jan. 20 approved a request from the wastewater treatment plant contractor to perform limited inside work during the contract's winter shutdown period, a move staff said will accelerate the plant toward operation earlier in the summer.
Forsgren Associates, the town's engineering representative, told the council the contractor had met the contract's winter-shutdown conditions as of Jan. 8 and therefore may legally cease outdoor construction. The contractor asked permission to keep abbreviated crews on-site performing interior tasks that will not be covered up, which project engineers said would help bring substantial completion earlier than a straight spring restart.
"They have met the conditions of winter shutdown," Forsgren said during the presentation, and requested that the town allow "abbreviated crews on-site doing work inside the building that if they provide heat ... they can perform that work." Forsgren added that town inspectors and Forsgren staff would provide periodic oversight so that only work meeting contract quality standards would be recommended for payment.
Council and staff discussed how inspection time is charged. The town's on-site resident project representative (RPR) service is billed as time and materials, and Forsgren said inspection hours during the winter would be tracked precisely and charged against the remaining construction-administration budget rather than counted as full construction days. "I'm tracking the inspection time based on time on-site," Forsgren said. "If he's here 4 days, but he's only here 3 hours each day, that's 3 hours, not a calendar day."
Project managers estimated that limited winter interior work with periodic inspection could move the plant's substantial completion into early July (they cited July 4 as a possible milestone) and could improve the schedule if spring startup occurs earlier than last year. Staff stressed that the contractor must absorb inefficiencies and heat costs for winter work; there will be no contract-price increase for the permission granted.
Council moved to allow RSCI to operate abbreviated crews for interior, non-covered work during the winter shutdown with Forsgren providing quality-control supervision and periodic RPR inspection. The motion passed unanimously.
Staff said they will continue close oversight of quality, record inspection hours, and reconcile those hours to the contract administration budget to preserve inspection capacity for spring construction and testing. The next steps include continuing documented site inspections and returning to the council if any material schedule or cost impacts emerge.
The council's action is intended to reduce the risk that the new treatment plant will not be online for higher seasonal flows; staff noted the lagoon system cannot meet total nitrate limits and that the new plant is necessary to address recurring nitrate exceedances.
