Adopt budget resolution increasing the Agriculture Department Corporation Yard Project Budget by $450,000 for a new Project Budget of $4,959,674 to cover additional project costs inclusive of remaining construction contract change orders, public art, furniture, specialized water testing bench, and other related project costs; authorize the Director of General Services to approve Contract Change Order to Yolo County Agreement No. 5616 with Creekside Commercial Builders Inc., in the amount of $13,645.93 along with a one month extension to complete the Yolo County Ag Shops Building Project located at 139 W Court Street in Woodland, resulting in a revised total contract price of $4,262,770.41 and authorize the Director of General Services to approve other change orders within the Project Budget; and approve the addition of a water testing table as a Fixed Asset to the 2026-27 Authorized Equipment List. (No general fund impact)  (4/5 vote required) (Pistochini/del Rosario)

The County allocated a total project budget of $4,509,674 that was approved by the Board on January 14, 2025. With the Ag Shops Building Project nearing completion, the adopted project budget contingency allocated is depleting due to change orders related to various structural design changes, the conversion of the project to be all-electric, additional code compliance work, and smaller ancillary changes.  Approving the increase of the adopted budget resolution by $450,000 to cover the amendment to contract 5616, Public Art, IT equipment, furniture, building monitoring and moving of highly specialized equipment to the new location to complete the Yolo County AG Shops Building.  Staff are requesting a revised project budget of $4,959,674.

The County entered into a contract with Creekside Commercial Builders Inc. to complete the AG Shops Building located at 139 W Court Street in Woodland. Contract 5616 was approved by the Board of Supervisors on January 14, 2025 (Yolo County Agreement No. 25-07), for a total amount of $3,898,734, with authority for the Director of General Services to approve change orders and other contracts necessary to complete the contract up to a cumulative total of $389,873 (subject to individual change order limits in the Public Contract Code). Subsequent change orders issued were due to owner changes, code compliance, unforeseen conditions, and resolution of design conflicts. The total contract amount increased to $4,262,770.41. To finalize the project, and authorize a final set of proposed change orders, staff are requesting to approve an additional change order to Contract 5616 with Creekside Commercial Builders Inc. in the amount of $13,645.93, resulting in an increased total contract price of $4,262,770.41.  Staff are currently reviewing an additional owner requested change order to add additional electrical support equipment to support the Agriculture Department's request for a new water table.  This contract increase request and potential change order are reflected in the project budget increase request of $450,000.  Board authorization for these additional change orders is requested since the original change order cap and Project Budget must be increased above the amounts approved by the Board on January 14, 2025.

One major cost component of the project budget increase is to purchase a new water testing bench.  The Agriculture Department's current water testing bench is over 30 years old and was set up by staff by cobbling together parts from various sources. This water testing bench is a specialized piece of equipment necessary for the Agriculture Department to perform its weights and measures function.  Currently, the Agriculture Department is not able to test more than a handful of meters at a time due to the fact that the current bench is not able to meet the flow rate and pressure requirements set by the National Council on Weight & Measure (NCWM). The new bench will let the Agriculture Department test more meters per cycle and meets NCWM requirements.  The new bench will also need to be certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The new bench also has automated features and software that will also help us work faster and ease record-keeping requirements, increasing our efficiency. 

Because the additional cost for the construction work described above may exceed the statutory contract change order limits for Public Contract Code section 20137, further change orders would ordinarily require competitive bidding. However, under Graydon v. Pasadena Redevelopment Agency (1980) 104.Cal.App.3d 631, competitive bidding is not required where such bidding would be unavailing and impractical and would not produce any public advantage.  For the following reasons, competitive bidding for the extra work in this case would not have produced any public advantage, and it is in both the best interest of the County and the public to work with the existing contractor on the Project rather than competitively bidding these Project changes because: