Council clears $1.35M water-treatment roof project after value-engineering offsets

The City of Aberdeen council voted to recommend award and move forward on a roof-improvement project for the municipal water treatment plant after staff identified cost reductions to bring a single received bid closer to the city's estimate.

Stuart, the treatment-plant manager, told the council the project originally received one bid of about $1.5 million against a staff estimate near $1.2–$1.3 million. "We were able to identify about $220,000 in deducts," Stuart said, explaining staff would reduce the membrane thickness and apply other savings to bring the contract near $1.35 million. He said the new building will receive a KEE membrane and a leak-detection system to help locate any future leaks.

Stuart said the roofs on both buildings were in poor condition and that leaks last year caused equipment damage: "...over $70,000 of equipment that got damaged in the old building this year" from leakage, he said. Council members pressed staff on whether the reduced membrane thickness would shorten the roof's life; Stuart said the warranty would change from 25 years to 20 years but his experience suggested the systems could last 25–30 years with proper maintenance.

Funding for the project is primarily from the water enterprise fund, with a contribution from a special sales tax fund to offset costs. If the contract is signed, staff said it will issue a change order to reflect the deducts and reduce the contract price accordingly.

The council approved the recommendation on a roll-call vote and directed staff to proceed with contract documents and the change-order process once paperwork is complete. The decision follows staff warnings that delaying repairs risked further equipment damage from continued leakage.

The project will now move to contract execution and implementation steps managed by the public-works and water-utility staff.