The Finance Committee met 01/08/2024. They took up three items related to Wastewater Treatment Plant projects one of which resulted in no discussion, two of which prompted some comment, and all of which were approved unanimously.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
ITEM 24-002: Request to award the Engineering Contract for the 2023 AWWTP L-Building HVAC Replacement Project to McMahon in the amount of $156,898 with a 5% contingency of $7,845 for a total not to exceed project engineering cost of $164,743
This item was approved without discussion.
ITEM 24-0003: Request to award the 2023 AWWTP B-Building HVAC Upgrades Project contract to Rohde Brothers, Inc. in the amount of $720,840 with a 9% contingency of $64,876 for a project total not to exceed $785,716. This item included a budget amendment moving $54,000 from the plants electrical distribution project and putting it toward the HVAC Upgrades Project
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) expressed concern that it was the beginning of January and the city was already making some fairly large budget amendments.
Director of Parks, Recreation, and Facilities Dean Gazza explained that it was challenging to get precise budget numbers for some of their projects. Staff will use their own expertise as well as consult with the architect or engineering firm working on a project to come up with a budget number, but “some of these [projects[ are really unique and they’re large, and we’re in a time where things have been just really variable.” He did not think it would be beneficial to go through the effort of getting project estimates from an outside source because “even when we ask for estimates, hire somebody to do estimates, they’re rarely right anyway.”
In general, he tried to look at all of the projects as a whole. If he was working on 10 projects in a year, the goal was to not go over budget on the total for all 10. Perhaps one project might be over budget but another project could end up being under budget and they evened out. Sometimes, however they ended up not having enough money to complete all of the projects as happened with the wastewater treatment plan roofing project that had been scheduled for 2023 but then had to be put off until 2024.
The committee voted unanimously to approve the contract and budget amendment.
ITEM 24-0004: Request to award the Engineering Contract for the AWWTP MCC Replacement Project Phase 1 to Donohue and Associates in the amount of $159,420 for data collection and bidding documents along with $124,719 for bidding and construction oversight services upon approval of funding in the 2025 budget as this is a multiyear project, for a total contract amount of $284,139. This item included a budget amendment moving $60,000 from the wastewater treatment plan Electrical Distribution Project to the MCC Replacement Project.
The item was approved unanimously with minimal discussion, but Alderperson Hartzheim did reiterate that she continued to have concerns about making these sorts of budget amendments so early in the year.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1145338&GUID=7A32E7E3-C13D-44B3-A880-2BC6BA99DD57
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