Posted: Jan. 16, 2020 10:10 am Updated: Jan. 16, 2020 10:41 am
HANNIBAL | The Huckleberry Park pond renovation project will cost more than was initially expected, following approval of a $61,537.39 change order by the Hannibal City Council during its Jan. 7 meeting. Still, the project’s cost remains well below what had been anticipated.
According to Andy Dorian, the city’s director of central services, the original contract price for the project was $330,807.64. Of that cost $184,171 would be covered by a Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant secured in 2018 by the Hannibal Parks and Recreation Department, provided the city spent a minimum of $368,342 through either the contract or in-house labor.
“With the addition of the $61,537.39 change order No. 1 our new contract amount will be $392,345.03 which will allow us to receive the whole $184,171 reimbursement,” said Dorian, adding that even with the change order the project is still beneath the $450,000 that had been budgeted.
According to Dorian, the cost of the change order was the result of two areas of additional work. One portion dealt with a seepage issue while the other phase dealt with grading, fertilizing and seeding.
Dorian said a large area north of the pond was having a significant seepage issue. To deal with the problem the project’s contractor, Bleigh Construction, excavated an additional 533 cubic yards of earth where seepage was occurring and hauled in 889 cubic yards of thick clay.
“Once completed the area was monitored and the seepage problem was fixed,” said Dorian, adding that the seepage work cost an additional $34,607.39.
As for the remaining costs contained in the change order, when the grant was sought the estimated cost to remove 13,650 cubic yards of dirt from the pond’s basin was over $100,000. In an effort to reduce that expense it was decided that the soil from the pond would be hauled away by city personnel. It was speculated that the work would take four workers a minimum of nine-plus weeks. The estimated cost of that plan was $93,291, based on Federal Emergency Management Agency equipment rates.
“Once the project began we made a decision that instead of hauling all the material off it was going to be significantly less time-consuming and cheaper to leave the material on site integrated into the existing low-lying areas,” Dorian said. “We decided that we did not want the extra wear and tear on the large (city) trucks running all day for nine weeks. In addition, taking four employees off other projects for two months was simply not going to be possible.”
Bleigh will be paid an additional $26,930 to deal with three dirt pile areas when weather permits.
In addition to the amount of compensation that will be paid the contractor, the change order also extends the completion date of the project to April 1, 2020. Dorian said the extension is necessary to give the pond time to fill with enough water so that the installation of an ADA dock can be completed.
