Jackson Free Press

The Jackson City Council is expected to vote on a $222,208 price increase for the installation of a 54-inch water line at tonight's city council meeting. The project is necessary to increase water capacity to the downtown area to accommodate ongoing development, city spokesman Chris Mims said.

The change order would increase the city's payment to project contractor T&L Construction by $222,208, which would bring the total project cost to $8.3 million. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said the contractors have had to compensate for the low-quality of the soil housing the pipe, which is particularly swampy and formed of non-stable sediment resulting from the fact that the location served as an abandoned bed for the Pearl River.

The city has been up against more than one price increase because of the location of the line, and Johnson said the project includes one section of a larger planned line extending between Jackson's O.B Curtis water treatment plant, near the Ross Barnett Reservoir, and the J.W. Fewell plant, near Lakeland Drive.

David Willis, deputy director of Public Works, said the price increase is intended to pay for erosion control around the pipe, which he told the council was already in the ground, in addition to passing pressure and the bacteriological tests.

This is not the first price increase for the project, however, which the city bid on in 2008 and stalled this year due to constant rain and flooding in the area. The council approved several change orders over the past year and a half—an issue that troubles Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber.

"What's the possibility that we will be having this conversation again?" Yarber asked Willis at the Monday work session.

"There is a zero percent chance of another increase—not with my signature," Willis said.

"And not with my vote," Yarber said.

Johnson said the city has the finances to pay for the increases, because of savings from a 2004 water and sewer bond issue.

"We're going to pay for this project through a bond issue that was floated back in 2004," Johnson told reporters after the meeting. "We had a bond issue to provide a 54-inch line from our O.B. Curtis plant down to the Fewell plant. We already have money set aside for it, and we have money to pick up unexpected costs like this change order. In each bond issue, we'll set aside for contingencies and unexpected things, and this is one of those things. Some things come in under-budget. The 54-inch line is over-budget, but it all works out fine."

Johnson added that the existence of the water main this winter may have prevented the city's loss of water pressure during multiple freezes earlier this year.
Johnson also told council members that the city now has almost all the money it needs to move forward with turning Capitol Street into a two-way street.

"This started back in 2004 with the economic development strategy for downtown. There was an effort then to two-way Capitol Street. This is really a vision that was first cast in 2004, and is now coming to fruition," Johnson said. "It looks like we've got most of the money identified. It's in design now by engineers, and we're trying to figure out how to phase it out."

Johnson told the Jackson Free Press that the federal government is dedicating more than $4 million to the project, and the state is paying about $2 million to internalize parking garage ramps. The city is contributing about $1 million from a city bond for street re-paving, which the council passed during the last mayoral administration. However, the city is still trying to determine the extra costs for water and sewer work connected to the project.

"The primary issue right now is the water and sewer, because we don't want to do the work and then have to come back and tear up the streets. That could be why nobody's talking about the start date," Johnson said.

Previous Comments

ID

158850

Comment

Why is there a bid process if the contractor can just come and ask for more money later? Do these increases not undermine the bidding process? If a contractor knows they can raise the price later, of course it makes sense to massively underbid the competition just to secure the contract. If I did not have a final exam tonight, I would be at the meeting asking the Mayor this.

Author

jrt

Date

2010-07-27T13:03:44-06:00

ID

158854

Comment

Jrt, it depends on whether the increased price is the result of unforseen circumstances or not. The City can't expect a contractor to bid a job based on one set of conditions, then turn around and expect him to keep working at that price if conditions are considerably much worse than he was led to believe once he's started working, especially if those circumstances force him to incur substantial increases in material and labor costs.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2010-07-27T14:27:14-06:00