Ellerbe town council approves wastewater project savings

ELLERBE — A $30,450 credit has been returned to the town’s wastewater system rehabilitation project, allowing officials to close out the contract with Terry’s Plumbing. The final change order, adjusting project quantities to match what was installed, was approved by the town council following a presentation from Ben Wibbens, project manager at LKC Engineering.

“I’ve just come up with a quick change order with Terry’s Plumbing water system Reb contracts,” Wibbens said. “This is the final adjusting change order to correct quantities to the actual installed amounts. The report quantities that did not get installed or not installed in a big quantity, it was a total credit of $30,450. I just want to bring this change order to you to seek your approval and this would allow us to close out Terry’s Plumbing contractor the wastewater rehab.”

“You don’t get that very much,” Town Commissioner Bennett Hawks said, referencing the rare occurrence of a contract change order resulting in a cost savings.

The funds, originally part of a loan that was converted into a grant through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), will go back into the contract. Wibbens explained the limitations tied to remaining grant dollars.

“One of the things that we’ve struggled over the last couple of meetings is we do have contingency money that we were not able to use and we were planning and hoping that we could use the money to help with additional work at the pump station or some paving repairs,” he said.

Wibbens shared that discussions with the state confirmed that remaining SRPWO 813 grant funds are limited.

“SRP money is pretty strict with how they use it, so we had an engineer’s report at the beginning of the project and anything that is not explicitly called out in that engineer’s report, they will not let us change order,” he said.

Wibbens continued, “So good news, we’ve completed all the work that we asked for, kind of strange news, it cost less than we expected. There’s about $159,000 that will have to be returned to the state that they won’t let us use, because we didn’t specifically ask for resurfacing of the roads.

“They only let us patch within the trench plus foot and a half of either side which is what we got,” he said.

The conversation shifted to current road conditions and potential solutions, with Hawks asking about patching improvements.

“We’ve been talking about that behind the scenes. I don’t have an answer for you tonight. I’m hopeful that in the next month we do,” Wibbens replied. “One benefit, you know SKC is doing the work now on the water, they will be doing a full lane resurfacing on Main Street and they will be doing full resurfacing in the intersections where you’ve got a lot of cross cuts, so that will be covered. They are also patching Ballard from Main Street all the way to Third as a full resurface zone. That’s covering some of what was not done perfectly standard through Terry’s Plumbing contract. I’m talking with Mrs. Brenda and trying to figure out a potential solution while SKC is in town. Maybe they’ll be willing to help pave. I don’t have an answer tonight, but we know it’s an issue and we’re going to try to address it.”

“Let’s try to get resolution while they’re here if we can to get some of it taken care of,” said Mayor Pro-Tem John Sears, Jr.

Wibbens added that he will meet with SKC and that street resurfacing will be among the first topics addressed. “We look for a full resurface. I know Second Street and Church Street are the two highest priorities— that’s what we’re looking at. That’s top priority, but I hopefully can have something for you next month.”

He also clarified that Ballard Street is the only road under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation — the rest are managed by the town.

In other business, the council adopted the Municipal Accounting Services, Cybersecurity and Technical Assistance Agreement and Resolution. Town Clerk Jane Smith said the agreement comes at no cost to the town.

“What it is, they help the municipality with their budget, accounting, that sort of thing,” Smith said. “They will come in person and it’s between six to 12 months and they will have this covered.”