LAWTON – The Board of Comanche County Commissioners recently delayed action on a $23,920 change order for demolishing the American National Bank building and constructing a new lighted parking lot across from the Comanche County Courthouse.
After discussing the proposed change order, the commission voted 3-0 Aug. 25 to table it for another week.
Postponing action would mean that the project was not completed on schedule and contractor RCJ Construction would incur a penalty as a result, said Commission Chairman Josh Powers. He added that he had discussed the situation with RCJ representatives over the weekend.
“When I spoke to them, they didn’t want to have the penalty,” Powers said. “They would prefer that the contract be closed out like it is, and then we go back out for rebid on the things that weren’t included in the original scope of work.”
He said seeking new bids for the items that weren’t included in the original scope of work would allow RCJ to rebid the project for those items without incurring a penalty.
The Aug. 18 change order called for RCJ to add concrete to 11 or 12 closed islands in the new south parking lot to a depth of 4 inches, according to a copy of the document. The change order also said RCJ would paint arrows and no-parking stripes on the south side of the parking lot along D Avenue, which was required and specified by the City of Lawton.
The original contract amount was for $674,828.96, but the cost was adjusted due to the Aug. 18 change order and a previous change order, which together totaled $97,800. The new contract sum was $772,628.96.
RCJ should not be blamed because the project wasn’t completed on time, said Commissioner Johnny Owens.
“This was a fault between the Central District commissioner (Owens) and the city of Lawton and things dragging out so much,” he said. “It was not RCJ’s fault.”
Owens said he would rather table the item until the board’s next regular meeting. 1.5” X 4.5”