Watertown City Council Approves $15K Landfill Hoop Building Change Order After Questions Over Project Cost Increase
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown City Council unanimously approved a $15,376.84 change order Monday night for the new truss‑style hoop building at the city landfill, following a detailed discussion about engineering assumptions, project estimates, and how unexpected adjustments occur during construction.
The change order — Change Order No. 1‑Final — increases the contract with Berg Enterprise, LLC from $140,357.00 to $155,733.84, according to the agenda document submitted by City Manager Alan Stager. The additional cost covers supportive concrete economy blocks and strapping required to meet engineered building specifications.
City Engineer Justin Petersen told the council the added materials were necessary to anchor the structure against wind loads properly.
“It’s adjustment quantities to account for some additional concrete blocks and hardware needed to anchor the building to prevent wind loads,” Petersen said.
Council questions why the change order was needed
The request prompted a series of questions from council members who noted the change order represents a roughly 10 percent increase on a relatively small project.
Councilman Schutte: “Is it standard to be off by 10%?”
Councilman Schutte opened the discussion by asking whether such a discrepancy is typical.
“Is it standard to be, you know, for contractors to be off by 10% on anchoring a hoop building?” he asked.
Petersen responded that the percentage appears larger because the overall project is small, and the final quantities were driven by engineering calculations rather than contractor error.
“It’s a small contract, so it looks larger,” Petersen said. “The amount of blocks that were needed… is kind of based off the engineering design.”
Councilman Heuer: “Where does the shortcoming come from?”
Councilman Heuer pressed further, asking whether the issue stemmed from design assumptions or contractor miscalculations.
“Is it a failure on design?… I just would like a better understanding of where it comes from and how does it get overlooked,” Heuer said.
Petersen explained that the design was based on initial assumptions, and final shop drawings submitted by the building manufacturer required additional weight to meet wind‑load requirements.
“When we did the design, it was based off of certain assumptions,” Petersen said. “When the actual submittals come in, adjustments are made… the loads needed some additional weight.”
Councilman Jurrens: “Why are we finding this out now?”
Councilman Lynn Jurrens questioned the timing.
“Why would we just find this out now?” he asked.
Petersen said the project began in July and staff waited until the end of construction to finalize all quantity adjustments.
Councilman Peters: “It feels like we have no option”
Councilman Peters expressed concern about the broader pattern of change orders arriving late in the process.
“It feels as though it’s brought to us with no option other than up or down,” Peters said. “We feel like we have to make a decision right now without much context.”
He emphasized that his comments were not directed at staff personally, but reflected a desire for more clarity earlier in the process.
City Manager Stager: All bidders used the same quantity
City Manager Alan Stager added context by noting that all bidders used the same original quantity — 132 concrete economy blocks — meaning the change order would not have altered which contractor won the bid.
“All of the bidders used the same quantity of 132 blocks,” Stager said. “Had this quantity been correct… it wouldn’t have changed the winning bidder.”
Stager also located the engineer’s original estimate for the project: $174,494, higher than the awarded bid.
Councilman Heuer: “Why didn’t our estimate match the bid?”
Heuer followed up, asking why the city’s estimate was closer to the final cost than the contractor’s bid.
Petersen explained that engineering estimates are based on experience and anticipated unit prices, while contractors may bid lower based on their own pricing.
“This particular bidder had different unit prices and so that came in lower than our estimate,” Petersen said. “When the project is all said and done, then we adjust final quantities.”
Councilman Schutte: “We need to approve this — but can we improve the process?”
Councilman Heuer was not part of this discussion, but Councilman Schutte concluded the conversation by emphasizing that the project must be completed, while encouraging staff to evaluate whether future adjustments could be identified earlier.
“Of course this is something we need to do… hopefully this doesn’t come across as council against engineering,” Schutte said. “Maybe on the front end, if there’s something that could be done differently… so be it.”
The council voted unanimously to approve the change order.
