City tables payment of contract amendment

WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg City Council declined to pay a request for additional engineering costs until it clarifies the reason for the amount requested.

Resolution 109-24 would pay HR Green, an engineering company out of Cedar Rapids, more than $38,000 in additional engineering fees for a water quality project along Old Man’s Creek.

The additional $38,700 raises the total price for HR Green’s services to $194,600. The original contract, signed in January of 2022, was for $97,900.

The city council tabled approval of the resolution Dec. 9.

City Manager Aaron Sandersfeld said the engineering cost for the project looked high, at nearly a third of the cost of the entire project. “That seems like a lot of engineering fees for that size of project,” he said.

“This has been a several years project,” said Sandersfeld. The engineering bill is now twice the amount originally estimated.

Engineering costs for the Chatham project are only $109,000, and that project is substantially larger, said Sandersfeld.

Councilman Tyler Marshall, an engineer by trade, said he could look into it.

Sandersfeld seemed resigned to having to pay the bill. “We’re into this project now,” he said.

The city and HR Green entered the original design agreement in January of 2024. The city council approved amendment No. 1, for an additional $21,900, in August of 2023 and amendment No. 2, for $36,100, in October of 2023.

The additional fees, according to a document provided to the council by HR Green, would cover such services as preparing final bidding documents to the city to conduct bidding services for the construction of “each project.”

That includes two formal project lettings.

For each bid letting, Green assists in preparation of the formal notice of hearings and lettings, provides electronic copies of plans, specification and contract documents for distribution to prospective bidders, maintains a plan holders list during bidding, corresponds with prospective bidders and suppliers and prepares a bid tabulation and helps the city evaluate the bids.

The amendment also adds project management to the two projects. HR Green will provide ongoing project management for the duration of the construction and maintenance phase of the projects.

Construction of the first project is expected to take 24 weeks from award to final completion by the grading contractor, according to HR Green.

The second project is expected to take 16 weeks.

HR Green will coordinate with contractors, plan interpretation/extra work orders, visit the sites, give the final field review and record drawings, according to the firm’s request for additional fees.