PUB approves $2.7 million change order for I‑35 utility relocation; staff says costs should be reimbursed by TxDOT

The Denton Public Utilities Board on May 18 approved change order number four on the I‑35 utility relocation project, increasing the contractor’s not‑to‑exceed amount by $2,700,000 to a total reimbursable program of $20,000,000.

Sean Masic, project manager in Capital Projects, told the board the project, which relocates about 10,000 linear feet of water and wastewater lines between the I‑35 merge and the U.S. 380 split, went to construction before all necessary easements were acquired. "The contractor had to reschedule" work and stay on site longer because the UNT intramural field parcel and other parcels were not acquired in time, Masic said, creating additional mobilizations and sequencing work.

The delay lengthened the contractor’s time on site beyond the original 180‑day contract and produced change orders tied to redesigns, reuse of existing pipe, and other adjustments. Seth Garcia, director of Capital Projects, said negotiations with the University of North Texas over replacing irrigation and sodding on the intramural field resulted in nearly $1,200,000 in costs that the city expects to recover through TxDOT reimbursements. "So as long as we structure it as these are actual costs incurred and we're not just paying for essentially free time to the contractor," Garcia said, "we should be getting the 100% back."

Board members probed why the parcel acquisitions were not completed before construction. Masic and Garcia said the parcel negotiations — including utility conflicts and UNT’s requests for extensive irrigation replacements — lengthened the acquisition timeline. Staff said TxDOT pushed the relocations to meet its schedule for a larger interchange project, which contributed to proceeding on other portions of the work before all parcels were secured.

The board approved the change order by motion; the vote was recorded as unanimous in the meeting transcript. The contract adjustment covers easement acquisition costs and added onsite time; staff said a supplemental agreement with TxDOT to formalize reimbursement would follow.

The board did not record individual roll‑call votes in the transcript. The next procedural step staff described is processing the change order and delivering a supplemental TxDOT reimbursement agreement to increase the reimbursable amount to $20,000,000.