Victoria MN Newspaper

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER ON BUDGET

BOTH VICTORIA PROJECTS UNDER BUDGET

Council approved a change order February 9th that increased the payment to Stahl Construction by $24,000. Stahl is/was the Construction Manager for the new City Hall and Public Works facility. The increase was due to the additional weeks of construction manager services required for the projects.

Explained Construction Manager (CM) Dale Sonnichsen in a communication, "Based on the difference between our five-month projected duration and the eight months of CM services actually being performed, we respectfully request a change order to our contract agreement for an additional two months of providing services. The amount requested is based on our rate of $3,000 per week."

The two projects did not run concurrently for five months as planned, for at least a couple of reasons. First, Council voted to move the location of the Public Works Building back further on the site than the location bid. Second, the foundation permit for the City Hall building was delayed and there were many changes to the structural design.

Stahl mobilized to Victoria in mid May 2014. Construction started on the Public Works facility in late June with substantial completion in early December. Foundation permit on City Hall was issued in June 2014, full building permit in July, with completion in mid January 2015.

City staff reported that the added CM costs were offset by savings that Stahl made in other areas of the projects. The overall project remained within budget.

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In responding later to questions from the Gazette, City Engineer Cara Geheren reported, "We are paying Stahl $95,250 for Construction Management Services for Public Works and $120,000 for City Hall."

In addition, pass-through dollars were paid to Stahl for General Conditions.

Explained Cara, "General conditions included payments which Stahl makes for elements of the construction such as temporary electricity, dumpsters, final cleaning, temporary heat, lift rental, surveying, insurance, etc. I expect we will be under budget on general conditions."

In addition to Construction Manager services and General Conditions, said Cara, "We have payments to 12 different contractors for construction of both buildings. We also have payments to many more contractors for low voltage wiring, audio visual equipment, furniture, security system, IT, public works equipment, signage, and moving completed outside of the building contracts. We also paid for professional fees for architects, engineers, attorneys, AV, and furniture consultants."

Are there construction details left? "Yes," replied Cara. "The contractors are working through the punch list. Stahl is not on site anymore, but they are here periodically as the contractors complete punch list items."

Are there landscaping or other related projects in the offing? Replied Cara, "The areas around the building will be restored with topsoil and seed in the spring. We will also be adding a crosswalk across Stieger Lake Lane and a pedestrian ramp in the parking lot across the street. A pedestrian ramp was installed on the City Hall side of the street. Once weather permits, we need to install a crosswalk and a pedestrian ramp on the parking lot side of the street. We then expect to stripe ADA stalls in the parking lot."

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As of February 23rd, total contract amount on the City Hall/Library project is $1,979,996. Original contract amount was $1,886,907.

Explained Cara, "The increase represents changes that were made to the project after the contracts were awarded. These include many changes. A few examples include the addition/modification to structural steel,
HVAC changes, additions of a manual transfer switch to allow for plug-in of a generator, changes in window sill materials, adjustments to doors and walls, etc."

Total contract amount on the Public Works facility is $1,457,769. Original contract amount was $1,257,666.

Explained Cara, "The extra costs were changes after contracts were awarded and include $105,296 to relocate the building, and then other changes such as increasing the parking lot pavement and subgrade section and adding draintile."

Are the buildings on budget? Replied Cara, "Overall, both projects remain under budget. The budget set by Council was $5 million, not including land, for both buildings and we are anticipating that we will complete the projects within that budget. Invoices are still coming in for many of the subsequent items that we are completing now that the building construction is complete so I don't yet have final numbers."

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