Council hears details of change order to extend sewer work for Smoky Point Boulevard roundabout

Jim Kelly presented a second change order for the Smoky Point Boulevard roundabout project to address sanitary-sewer issues encountered during construction.

Kelly said an inaccurately labeled gas line forced the contractor to relocate sewer work into the roadway and to extend the sanitary main by roughly 1,090 feet, including an additional 70 feet that requires deep excavation next to Lift Station 6. "The gas line was mislabeled, so we had to move it over into the roadway," Kelly said. He described the pavement depth (8 inches of asphalt over 10–12 inches of concrete) and the higher excavation costs that followed.

Kelly said the final 70 feet requires a deep tie-in adjacent to the lift station with sheet piling; he cited a sheet-piling cost of $169,000 for that segment. He also said staff found the existing sewer flow was about 70% of capacity and that deferring the extension would have risked overloading the system within several years, so the city accelerated the scheduled sewer extension.

When asked whether the sewer work will come from contingency, Kelly said the Sewer Capital Fund will cover water and sewer work; the roadway grant supports transportation-related costs only.

Council discussion confirmed that the city will modify the contractor's contract to proceed and that sufficient funding exists in the Sewer Capital Fund to pay for the additional sewer work.