Council approves two South Williams waterline change orders — net scope added after a small decrease

The Natchitoches City Council on April 13 adopted two consecutive change orders on the South Williams Waterline project that together alter the contract price and add scope to the work.

Council approved Resolution 022 to accept change order #1, which decreases the contract by $2,010, yielding a revised contract total of $835,851. Later the council approved Resolution 023 to accept change order #2, increasing the contract by $64,007.28 for a revised total of $900,579.

City staff and the project engineer explained the reasons for the changes. Tim (project staff/engineer) said the decrease reflected a material substitution: “It’s a decrease of 2,010 because we went from a DR7 to a DR11 pipe, which is a thinner pipe... DR11 is a municipal standard.” He later described change order #2 as adding a new 6-inch PVC water main down Royal Street, removing an existing galvanized 2-inch line, and adding a fire hydrant near Highway 1.

Council discussed that the project was under its original budget (the original budget figure discussed in the meeting was about $980,000) and staff recommended moving forward with the additional scope because of favorable pricing and available contingency. Staff also noted potential, modest restoration costs for yards where digging is required (estimated around $24,000) and that certain turf (St. Augustine grass) requires solid sod replacement rather than seeding.

Both change orders were approved by roll call. Council members and staff emphasized that the change orders do not waive required bidding procedures for separate projects and that the city will still bring significant contracts to council when necessary.