Council Awaits "Strong Offer" for Safe Routes to School Budget Overrun
- Trinity Gruenberg
- 22 minutes ago
- 1 min read
by Trinity Gruenberg
The Verndale City Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, September 17, to discuss issues related to the budget overages from the Safe Routes to School project.
The council noted that the initial agreement emphasized the importance of adhering to a strict budget, and representatives from Moore Engineering had assured them that costs would not exceed this limit.
However, after the sidewalks were installed, it became apparent that there was a significant financial overrun, which was attributed to inaccuracies in the original estimates and inadequate project oversight.
John Pauna from Moore Engineering acknowledged these concerns and expressed regret over the financial overrun.
The final costs resulted in an overrun of $62,438, which equated to 14.3% over the initial budget. The original bid was set at $409,000, and was later adjusted to $439,000.
A substantial earthwork error was identified, accounting for over $11,200 of the total overrun. This mistake was caused by the contractor’s miscalculation, leading to excessive work beyond the intended scope.
Resident Naomi Moyer expressed her frustration regarding the placement of the sidewalks, inadequate lawn restoration, and the exclusion of some residents from services such as lawn spraying. She emphasized that, as a taxpayer, she believed that changes to the project and its budget overages should have required explicit approval from the city council, and that communication about these changes was insufficient...
