Council presses for procurement controls after Crestline change orders paid without council ratification

A councilmember raised detailed concerns about how change orders and invoices for the Crestline Drive project were handled, saying change orders were being signed, submitted and paid without council ratification.

The councilmember said the original award approved by council was $2.99 million but the contract that was signed reflected $3.12 million; he also cited a $12,800 bond‑related item and a $16,450 traffic‑control change order that were paid without council approval. "So that's my big concern, is we have invoices coming in for change orders that are being signed and submitted and paid without counsel approval," the member said. Counsel responded that change orders that increase the contract amount generally must come to council unless a delegation exists, and emphasized the need to preserve audit trails and approvals.

Councilmembers proposed steps to prevent recurrence: centralize purchasing, require revised schedules and cash‑flow information with pay requests, attach partial lien‑release waivers to payments, and tie retention to measured performance. The council later moved to authorize the city attorney to negotiate termination with MTL; members said those procurement and oversight questions would factor into the negotiation and any follow‑up reporting.