Town manager seeks board consideration of $18,000 change order for Spencer Town park

The Spencer Town manager presented an add‑on item at the Dec. 5 pre‑agenda meeting asking the Board of Aldermen to consider a change order of about $18,000 to the town park project to meet county plan‑review requirements.

The manager said the plan review identified the need to separate a single large storage room into two rooms so fountain equipment, chemicals and related systems are in a separate storeroom, triggering masonry, HVAC and electrical work. The manager said he has delegated authority for change orders under $10,000 but this item exceeds that limit, so board consideration is required. “This 1 is a change order to the tune of $18,000,” he said.

Project finances: the manager said the project has a $50,000 contingency and that previous changes resulted in a net change of only about $1,200; approving the $18,000 change order would leave “about over $30,000 left in contingency,” he stated.

Board handling: the manager suggested the item could go on the consent agenda if members were comfortable, but several members said they would prefer a brief explanation on the regular meeting agenda to highlight where park funding (fundraisers, grants, donations) came from; the chair directed staff to add the change order as item 10 on the Dec. 10 agenda.

What’s next: The board added the change order to the Dec. 10 regular agenda; no final approval of the change order was recorded at the pre‑agenda meeting.