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WARREN -- A week after warning Trumbull County department heads they will no longer pass resolutions to pay for change orders when the work already has been done without their review, Commissioners Denny Malloy and Rick Hernandez are expected to approve today a $186,152.76 change order for the Meadowbrook Sanitary Improvement project.
The change order increased the cost of the project to $13,226,152.76 from its original price tag of $13,040,000.
Last week, after the commissioners unanimously agreed to not accept change orders after work had been completed, Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough told commissioners he knew of one more from A.P. O'Horo Company that should be approved.
The change order involved building foundation pad needed for the wastewater plant's emergency generator, causing modifications to its HVAC systems to satisfy current fire codes and increasing the amount of sub-base and piping because of unforeseen soil conditions.
Commissioner Rick Hernandez during Tuesday's workshop noted that today will be the last time he will vote to approve providing additional funding to a contract, if the extra work was done without notifying commissioners of the need.
Hernandez said he will support today's vote only because he is concerned about possible litigation.
"I'm not going to keep taking hits on these things that happened years ago," he said. "These things need to be handled differently. I'm taxed on any more of these happening without being notified in advance."
Newbrough told commissioners that this is the final contract that he has knowledge of for which extra work was completed that commissioners were not informed of being done.
The commissioners also are expected to vote on a change order to revise the contract with Woodford Excavating LLC of Leavittsburg to pay them an additional $267,769.42 for work expected to be done on the Pendleton/Gillmer Sanitary Sewer Project in Warren Township.
The original contract was for $8,743,789. The additional work will increase the contract to $9,011,558.42.
Additional funds will be needed to purchase 8,500-cubic-yards of premium backfill and manufactured limestone sand trench material, moving a gas line, purchasing stone because of poor soil conditions, replacing unmarked storm sewer and septic effluent collection lines, and removing and replacing previously unmarked catch basins.
Newbrough said he is seeking permission to allow the contractor to do the work.