ADMINISTRATION- Dan Schluender, City Engineer
Title
CONTRACT AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR SITE IMPROVEMENTS AT THE BLAINE WETLAND SANCTUARY FOR THE SITE 7 WETLAND RESTORATION
Background
The City of Blaine entered into a contract with Critical Connections Ecological Services, Inc. on March 20, 2014. The original contract was in the amount of $765,987.50. This contract was set up in multiple phases and extended over a period of several years with a planned project completion in 2020.
The contractor was ordered by the city to stop work in January 2017. As such, the original project phasing in no longer valid or out of alignment as much of the remaining work is seasonally dependent. This will require portions of the project to be completed on a separate time line and will require portions of the project/work to extend beyond the 2020 completion date. The contractor is preparing an alternate project time line outlining the remaining work and associated costs based on the delayed work and the new timing required to complete the tasks in the original project plan.
There are several areas within the stop work area that require work to complete the planned restoration. One area includes the completion of the wetland grasses, sedges, shrubs, winter mow, winter rake, and herbicide. The second area requires tree removals, wetland trees, shrubs, grasses, winter mow, winter rake, and herbicide. The third area includes upland oak forest, trees, shrubs, buckthorn removal, and herbicide. See attached map for locations of the areas. With the change in work timing and the additional effort to reschedule the project and extend the project completion date, the contractor is requesting an amendment to the contract in the amount of $115,437.00 and will be preparing a new project schedule that will include an extension of the contract with a new completion date of 2022.
The additional tree removals are scheduled for February/March contingent upon the Council approving the amendment to the contract.
Recommendation
By motion, authorize the mayor and city manager to amend the contract to complete the required site restoration work and to extend the contract completion to 2022 at the Blaine Wetland Sanctuary for the Site 7 Wetland Restoration.