Staff tells council $500,000 plan set would reduce future change orders

City staff argued the requested $500,000 budget amendment should be viewed as an investment to get reliable construction bids rather than an early commitment to build. Derek Oiler told the council that without a complete plan set it is difficult to produce reliable construction estimates and that change orders could add materially to final costs.

Oiler illustrated the procurement logic by noting that professional service fees are commonly calculated as a percentage of construction cost; using a $12 million example and current percentage assumptions, he said "80% of that total cost... So that's the number that is in the budget is is exactly that. They're gonna expend 80%." He and other staff warned that issuing a simplistic low-bid RFP for design could lower upfront professional fees but increase the likelihood of costly change orders during construction.

Staff recommended the council approve funding to complete the detailed plan set so that the project — if approved in a future budget — would have a lower risk of major cost escalation.