The Sedona City Council agreed during its July 9 meeting to pay an additional $3,777,950 to Fann Contracting via a contract change order for continued work on the Forest Road extension and Uptown garage projects.
Associate engineer Bob Welch explained to council that since the change order exceeded the value of the original contract by more than 10%, council reapproval of the funding would be required. The additional funds will be used to finance a portion of the costs for the garage construction that Fann will perform due to its convenient proximity.
“The contractor, in this case Fann, is readily equipped and available to do this work, so it makes sense to utilize them,” Welch said.
The change order will cover costs of $2,767,000 for earthwork, $712,000 for temporary shoring and $298,750 for “coordination” and pre-blasting monitoring, including a “value engineering component” based on “a judgment made by the CMAR team.”
Fann will remove approximately 22,000 cubic yards of material under the expanded contract.
“It is a slight increase over what was represented,” Welch said. “Everything’s still within budget.”
The new contract will increase the cost of the Forest Road extension from $11,668,957.73 to $15,446,907.73. The original price tag for the Forest Road extension when the final route was selected by council on May 29, 2019, was $2,772,047, putting the new cost at 457% over the initial estimate five years ago.
The city agenda bill for the contract approval states that “the increased amount is accounted for in the anticipated Uptown Parking Garage project.” The total cost of the garage is currently estimated at $25,999,668. The total amount requested for the garage project in the city’s FY21 budget, which included modifications to a number of Uptown streets and other work, was $14,620,299, putting the cost increase at 78%.
“So you don’t expect to bring back a further contract amendment?” Vice Mayor Holli Ploog asked with respect to the permanent shoring needed for the garage structure.
“I hope not,” Welch said. “Things happen, of course.”
The agenda bill also states that the contract increase and resultant work will be “consistent with the goals of the Climate Action Plan.”
Each cubic yard of concrete releases about 685.5 pounds of CO2 equivalent emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Uptown garage will require 4,500 cubic yards of concrete, putting the project’s emissions, at 1,542 tons, without including transport costs or other factors.
Council approved the additional expenditure unanimously.
