Staff recommends that City Council approve Change Order #1 to the construction contract with K2 Civil (formerly FirstMark Construction) for W.O. 20-23 Solid Waste Container Storage Facility in the amount of $167,875.00 and an additional 30 days of contract time.

W.O. 20-23 Solid Waste Container Storage Facility is intended to provide a new, larger, and enclosed facility to assemble and store Solid Waste containers.  This will free up outdoor space at the Billings Operations Center (BOC) that is needed for other uses.  Council previously awarded a construction contract to FirstMark Construction for this work on June 22, 2020, in the amount of $469,665.00.  The project generally consists of construction of an 80-foot by 100-foot pre-engineered metal building (PEMB), complete with exterior and interior lighting, electrical outlets, overhead and man doors, and a concrete floor; an asphalt pad adjacent to the building for additional outdoor storage, and associated site work. 

Originally, the location of this facility was south of Hillcrest Road, on City-owned land across from the existing Landfill.  Completion was projected for fall 2020.  Work began on the project July 29, 2020, and subsequently, property owners in the vicinity of the landfill filed complaints stating that the City could not have any type of operations on the site in question.  A Stop Work Order was issued August 26, 2020, to allow staff time to address the property owners' concerns.  At this time, FirstMark had nearly completed all site work and had been paid accordingly.  The metal building, unassembled, was also paid for, and has been stored by the City since its delivery in October 2020.

The City purchased the 20-acre parcel immediately south of the existing BOC in March 2021.  While city staff does think that the building could be constructed on the site south of Hillcrest, it may require a court decision and the site at the BOC is a better location. Staff would have located the storage building on the BOC site originally if the property was owned by the city at the time of the original design. After the decision was made to relocate the container storage facility to this newly acquired land, geotechnical evaluation and new site design has been completed. Change Order #1 covers new and additional work required to construct the facility on the expanded BOC site.  FirstMark Construction has restructured and is now known as K2 Civil, but the original construction contract is still valid.

City Council may:

• Approve Change Order #1 to the construction contract with K2 Civil in the amount of $167,875.00 and an additional 30 days of contract time; or,
• Not Approve Change Order #1, which will greatly delay the availability of a facility for Solid Waste to assemble and store their containers, which could negatively affect operations.

The original contract amount with FirstMark Construction was $469,665.00, funded with Solid Waste funds.  There is currently $257,509.41 remaining on that original contract, mostly related to erection of the building and placement of asphalt pavement.  Change Order #1, in the amount of $167,875.00, includes additional work related to relocating the facility to the land adjacent to the BOC.  An FY22 budget amendment will need to be approved at a future Council meeting; however, adequate cash is available in the Solid Waste Fund to cover these additional costs.