Columbus Town Council recently approved a change order of $43,550 for work on the wastewater treatment plant.
“During the bidding, we had value-engineered bids, since the bids exceeded available funds for the project,” said Brian Tripp, engineer with W.K. Dickson. “We took out some components, and then realized it was necessary to have that component.”
Tripp explained that electrical wiring at the wastewater treatment plant needed to have connection to the aerators, and the original bid did not accommodate this need.
“This change adds value to the project and makes it a better project,” Tripp said.
He pinpointed the total for the wastewater treatment plant expenses at $2,497,715. Columbus took out a state loan at no interest to pay for the project along with an additional $43,109 from its budget. Columbus also budgeted an additional $122,297 for the project to cover a five percent contingency.
Council approved smaller change orders previously totalling $8,225, Tripp said. Change orders increased a current pipe size of 8-inches to 10-inches to accommodate peak flows and also raised the building floor two feet.
So far, with the $43,550 change and previous change orders of $8,225 the town still has approximately $71,000 left in its contingency, Tripp said.
“We’ve spent less than 50 percent of what we budgeted as a line item for changes,” Columbus Town Manager Jonathan Kanipe said.
Tripp said work on the electrical will begin immediately.