City council

approves

change order

for field house

Tuttle opposed

approval, said change

was part of contract

By KEVIN SWEENEY

Journal Editor

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm City Council approved an expensive change order in the construction contract for the Family Recreation Center Tuesday, despite one councilor's question whether the change was already part of the contract.

Councilor Clark Tuttle thinks the city should be asking whether the contractor, Heymann Construction, might not be liable for the cost of putting a vapor barrier down on the former ice arena floor before the city installs a rubberized athletic floor surface.

As part of the city's Park and Rec expansion and remodeling projects, Vogel Arena is being converted from an ice arena to a community gymnasium complex. The floor of the ice arena is being prepared for a new surface to be installed, but tests on the floor show it has too high a water vapor content to meet the floor covering manufacturer's warranty.

The rubberized floor surface is attached with a water based adhesive, explained Ted Rozeboom, of Rozeboom Miller Architects, who are working on the project. Too much water vapor in the cement could cause the adhesive to deteriorate and come loose from the floor.

In order to keep the vapor away from the adhesive, the city would have to install a product called Aquafin Vaporight Coating to the arena floor. This would add $54,415 to the cost of the project.

Along with other changes, including grinding down high spots on the floor and shot-blasting the surface of the floor to remove paint and other adhesives before the new surface is installed, the change orders amount to $93,719 for the arena.

The city does have a $500,000 contingency fund to cover contract change orders, and the changes approved Tuesday bring the total used so far to $366,652.

Rozeboom told the council his firm wants to help the city protect as much of its contingency fund as possible. The city would use whatever is left after construction is over for furniture, equipment and other extras in the new buildings.

Rozeboom said he and his partners have tried to figure whether they should have caught these problems earlier, and whether they might have made a difference in the costs now. Rozeboom said the solution to the problems would have been the same even if the moisture problems and uneven floor had been discovered before bids were let. The changes would simply have increased the original contract costs by the same amount.

Tuttle, however, asked whether the contract specifications, which require the contractor to prepare the floor to the specifications for the installation of the new flooring, wouldn't cover the extra work. City Attorney Hugh Nierengarten said he didn't have an answer for that question at the meeting, and would have to research it.

Tuttle said that approving a change order in the contract was an admission by the city that the work wasn't included in the contract in the first place. He thought the city should be able to ask the question about who was responsible for the cost before approving the change order.

Other councilors, however, felt the condition of the floor had been unanticipated, and delaying the change order would set the project back further. As it is, the extra work on the floor will push the finish date to Aug. 1.

The council, with Tuttle dissenting, approved the change order and extended the completion date to Aug. 1.

Change order approved include installing glazing panel supports for three canopies at the Community Center ($1,581). Family Rec Center changes include removing old fiberglass duct wrap ($733); modifying and reinsulating new duct work ($9,139); shot blasting the arena floor ($11,342); floor grinding and leveling of high spots, repair of existing expansion joints, and repair of existing hockey board bolt locations ($11,872); applying a vapor barrier coating to the floor ($54,415), and providing and installing return air ducts and grilles and a chase wall around new duct drops in room 113 ($1,355).

In other business, the council:

* Accepted a Minnesota Department of Transportation document setting out terms and conditions for airport improvement grants. Without the agreement, the city would not be eligible for future airport improvement funds from the state;

* Approved the purchase of .71 acres from Richard and Lynn Schaefer for the extension of North Highland Avenue, and a temporary construction easement, for a cost of $14,000;

* Approved a resolution extending the city's subdivision regulations to specified areas of Milford and Cottonwood Townships. State law allows municipalities to enforce subdivision regulations in areas beyond its borders that lie within its growth path. Brown County still maintains zoning authority over the areas.

* Approved variances allowing Dennis Buck to rebuild a garage at his home. The garage had recently burned down. The variance allows him to rebuild on the former garage's foundation, which is up against the property line, and allows him to build it higher than city regulations, matching the former garage's height.

* Received a request from Henry and Joan Stammler for the annexation of land in the Bushard Subdivision, and set Aug. 5 as the date for a public hearing;

* Approved authorizing funding to buy property in the flood-prone area of the 1700 block of South Valley Street on a one-at-a-time basis. The city would like to buy all the property for flood abatement purposes, but state and FEMA funding is limited at this time.