Tuesday morning the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners approved a $158,802 change order for the paving of Hood Road, amounting to an 18% increase from the bid price. Now the cost of the sales tax-funded project tops $1 million, up from an original price tag of $882,336.

In effect, the commissioners accepted contractor Mill Creek Construction’s documented increases in material costs and the county staff engineer’s explanation that these followed delays beyond Mill Creek’s control. But one commissioner afterward called on county staff members and fellow commissioners to be stricter about construction contracts in the current environment of inflation and high demand, and the county manager agreed.

Bids for the Hood Road project were received in August 2021. The county government issued a notice to proceed in October 2021, and work started that November, noted County Engineer Brad Deal.

“Then we encountered three different delays on the project involving utilities and also a design change that was initiated because of a property owner building a new residence in the area where we were going to put a drainage ditch,” Deal said. “So in summary, we had about three different delays where the contractor had to stop work on the project, had to go to other jobs and then came back to the project.”

Took a year

Some complications, such as need do move power poles, were expected. But others, such as a need to move underground utilities, were not, according to Deal

“So what was originally planned to be about a six-month project turned into about a year, or a little over a year at this point,” he told the commissioners.

Meanwhile, the contractor submitted letters about cost increases to the county. These included a notice dated Jan. 16, 2022, from Mill Creek Construction of a $138,802 increase in graded base and asphalt topping – supplemented by half a dozen letters from suppliers last spring and summer about material costs – and a notice, also dated Jan. 16, 2022, about a $15,000 added charge to remove 72 feet of pipe and reinstall them at a new location after obtaining an easement.

The county’s written summary of the change-order costs also included $5,000 for replacing about 20 oak trees that were removed because of an error in instructions from the county engineer.

“That was a miscommunication from me to the surveyor,” Deal acknowledged.

Noting the overall $159,802 change-order cost, Deal said the county had denied some similar requests in past projects.

“The reason why I feel that this is different is because the contactor did respond to the county and discharge the project on time,” he said. “They just had some things that were beyond their control, so I do feel it’s a valid request.”

Without any immediate comment, the commissioners approved the change order by a 6-0 vote.

Rushing’s point

But Commissioner Timmy Rushing, whose personal business ventures have included land development and tree and stump services, spoke later during the time for general comments from commissioners and staff. County Manager Tom Couch, in his general comments, had mentioned the county’s efforts to establish water and sewer services in the southeastern end of the county to service new industries and residential growth.

“Because of all that Tom was talking about – fresh water, waste water, the  new fire station we’ve got to build, everything that’s coming  to Bulloch County within the next couple of years – to the department heads, anybody that comes to you with a change order, you need to walk that real close now, because we can’t take these $150,000 licks,” Rushing said.

He said he was only using the Hood Road project as an example and understands some things are beyond contractors’ control. But Rushing suggested that contractors should stockpile materials at the costs used in calculating their bids, instead of citing rising costs later.

“The day you win the bid you can go pay for them rocks and you can stockpile them on the job,” Rushing said. “I think that was like an $80,000 lick. I understand that, but in the liquidated damages, you know when you bid that job you’ve got a time to complete that job, and it seems to me like in Bulloch County we get to be the whipping boy.”

Contractors dealing on stricter terms with state contracts and entities such as Georgia Southern University could come to expect laxer treatment from the county government, the commissioner warned.

“It seems like since we don’t enforce it we always get moved back, and then when we get moved back the prices always go up, and when the prices always go up, we get a change  order,” Rushing said.

Manager’s comments

“I do agree with you,” said Couch, the county manager, “and I think as we go forward in the future, we’re not going to have the opportunity to be as lenient at times as we have been in the past because, just like you say, every penny is valuable right now, especially in an inflationary economy. So we really have to change our project delivery culture to be more strict – on time, preferably at or under budget.”

But he added that there is “a flipside” to this.

“Vendor relations are important too, and if it’s truly not the fault of the vendor, and it’s a situation that we created or a situation that wasn’t on the table … that’s different,” Couch said. “But if we want something done, particularly a road project done in six months, and it’s not getting  done in six months, there’d better be a lot of bad weather. …”