Española city councilors were not happy at Monday night’s regular meeting, with a $213,971.13 change order for an ongoing water project on the city’s west side. The council first voted down the change order, then reconsidered and arrived at a 3-3 vote. Mayor Alice Lucero broke the tie and approved the change order.
The order is the fifth since the contract was signed Aug. 15, 2012 and all five change orders total $1,630,749.08, almost doubling the original cost bid for the project, $1,817,495.91.
The project takes wells 4 and 7 and blends the water from each in a newly constructed tank three miles up 31-mile Road. Well 4 is high in nitrates and well 7 is high in uranium. The project was awarded last summer to RMCI, of Albuquerque. Once completed, it will blend the two wells, lower the contaminant in each provide more water to the city, according to the contract.
Interim city manager Joe Duran said Tuesday RMCI would be checking water quality and flows Wednesday (2/13).
The order lists 13 items that were either added to the original contract or have incurred additional costs. Duran said at Monday night’s meeting most of the work was done and a few items were in progress.
Councilor Robert Seeds asked if the work was already done, why a change order was being requested now.
“Some of it is done but the work has to continue to maintain the schedule,” Duran said. “They can’t stop to wait for approval.”
Lucero said some of the items on the list were contingency items, meaning they are listed as part of the original contract that may need to be accomplished but the contractor wouldn’t know until the project was underway.
City Councilor Eric Radosevich was also unhappy with the change order.
“Coming from a construction background, what I hate about change orders is there’s a competitive bid and this company bid low enough to get the job and then they file change orders to make their money,” he said. “This is a big concern and they should know better. We need to keep this in mind next time.
Seeds said the council should not approve any more change orders if the work has already been done. He then called for the vote.
The council disapproved the order 4-2 with councilors Peter Valdez and Elaine Herrera voting to approve the change order and Radosevich, Seeds, Dennis Salazar and Peggy Martinez voting against it.
Lucero said this would put the city in a difficult position as the work had been done and RMCI would expect payment.
Radosevich then changed his vote to approve the change order.
Martinez said as a point of order a vote can’t be changed after a motion had passed or failed.
City Clerk Tessa Jo Mascareñas said the council would have to revote.
Valdez then made the same motion to approve the change order and Herrera seconded. With Radosevich moving to the “for the change order” side, the vote was tied at 3-3 and Lucero broke the tie with an affirmative vote.
“This council OK’d some of the items on this list already, including the Buena Vista Street and Calle del Fina extensions,” Lucero said.
The original project was funded by the New Mexico Water Trust Board. Since the council added water and sewer lines to city streets in November and other smaller projects since the original contract, funding has come from the Environmental Protection Agency for wastewater work and both the city’s water and wastewater enterprise funds.