Council approves $140,131 change order to resurface Merrill Manor parking lot; one member objects to procurement approach

The Stockbridge City Council approved a change order with East Coast Grading LLC for $140,131 to resurface the Merrill Mander's Conference Center parking lot, with funding from SPLOST 6. Staff said adding the work as a change order to an ongoing SPLOST project produced lower pricing than bidding the parking-lot job as a standalone contract.

One council member raised procedural concerns and moved to table the item for the next council meeting to review competitive-bidding implications; that motion failed for lack of a second. The motion to approve passed 4–1, with the dissenting member saying she could not support the process because the standalone bid price was not solicited. Council supporters argued the city saved money by piggybacking on existing mobilization and tonnage for concurrent road projects.

Council members also discussed timing: staff said delaying the work would postpone necessary repairs at Merrill Mander's, and that similar change-order approaches had been used previously to achieve cost savings. The item passed with a recorded 4–1 vote.