Title
Proposed Change Order No. 1
Contract No. 2100236/SCN-0000426
Reservoir Inspection, Design, Construction Administration, Resident Project Representative (RPR) Services
CIP #170802 / BEC Score: N/A
Body
Agenda of: March 11, 2026
Item No.: 2026-091
Amount: Original Contract Price $10,778,785.00
Proposed Change Order No. 1 5,435,000.00
Contract Total $16,213,785.00
TO: The Honorable
Board of Directors
Great Lakes Water Authority
FROM: Suzanne R. Coffey, P.E.
Chief Executive Officer
Great Lakes Water Authority
DATE: March 2, 2026
RE: Proposed Change Order No. 1
Contract No. 2100236/SCN-0000426
Reservoir Inspection, Design, Construction Administration, Resident Project Representative (RPR) Services
Vendor: Brown & Caldwell, LLC
Status: Amendment/Change Order
MOTION
Upon recommendation of Cheryl Porter, Chief Operating Officer - Water and Field Services, the Board of Directors (Board) of the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), authorizes the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to enter into Contract No. 2100236/SCN-0000426, Proposed Change Order No. 1 “Reservoir Inspection, Design, Construction Administration, Resident Project Representative (RPR) Services” with Brown & Caldwell, LLC, at an increased cost of $5,435,000.00 for a total cost not to exceed $16,213,785.00 and an increased duration of 729 days for a total duration of 2,800 days; and authorizes the CEO to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
BACKGROUND
Contract No. 2100236, a qualification based contract with Brown and Caldwell, started in July 2022 to perform inspection, design, construction administrative and resident project representative services on an original scope of 15 finished water reservoirs at Eastside, Wick Road, Schoolcraft, Haggerty, Adams Road, Joy Road No. 1 and No. 2, North Service Center No.1 and No. 2, Water Works Park No. 1, No. 2A and No. 2B, Northeast No. 1 and No. 2, and Michigan Avenue. Ford Road Reservoir was added by Field Order to the Brown and Caldwell contract in 2024 and funded by provisional allowance. Under this Amendment, a new reservoir at the Franklin Station will be designed and construction oversite provided, and Lake Huron No. 3 Reservoir is proposed to be exchanged for the Northwest Booster Station. The background covers three (3) discrete changes to the original contract.
1. Routine summer 2025 inspection of the Franklin Reservoir located in West Bloomfield, MI identified sanitary conditions that prompted the reservoir to be isolated and shut down for a more detailed inspection. The reservoir was drained and Brown and Caldwell, GLWA Water Quality, and GLWA Water Engineering inspected the interior condition of the reservoir. The results of these inspections prompted GLWA to evaluate three (3) options to return the reservoir to service. These included temporary repairs to extend reservoir operation for five (5) years, extensive repair to extend reservoir operation for 20 plus years or build a new reservoir. Upon reviewing these options and performing hydraulic modeling to demonstrate a smaller 5-million-gallon reservoir will meet operational requirements, it was decided to fast track a complete replacement and have a new reservoir operational in 2028. The station serves the communities of Farmington Hills, Franklin Township, Bloomfield, and West Bloomfield.
2. Brown and Caldwell’s original contract was based on completing 15 reservoirs in a three-year period. Operational constraints required the reservoir repair work to be spread over a four-year repair period. This four-year repair period was incorporated into the companion construction contract with Lakeshore Global Corporation but was not incorporated into the original Brown and Caldwell contract. This Amendment will add money to fund construction administration and resident project representation services for the fourth year of work.
3. The Lake Huron Reservoir No. 3 is a 14-million-gallon reservoir and last cleaned and inspected in 2020. It was originally planned to be cleaned and inspected under Brown and Caldwell’s contract, the subject of this Amendment. Summer 2025 inspections identified a higher priority to perform cleaning and inspections at the Northwest Booster Station located in Detroit, MI. The Northwest station serves the communities of northwest Detroit. Inspection and cleaning on all three (3) Lake Huron reservoirs will start in 2027 under the program’s future third phase contract currently in process with Procurement.
JUSTIFICATION
The justification for increasing Brown and Caldwell’s contract price is based on three (3) key engineering scope items: 1) Design and construction phase, construction management, and resident project representation for a new reservoir at Franklin Station; 2) Increase construction administration and resident project representation funds to account for a fourth year of reservoir rehabilitation work; and 3) Add design services for the cleaning, inspection, and rehabilitation to the Northwest Booster Station.
1. The justification to add $3,825,000.00 to Brown and Caldwell’s contract for the new Franklin Reservoir is based on the critical operational need to return an operational reservoir to the Station. GLWA water operations relies on having a reservoir at Franklin Station to moderate system pressure fluctuation, and redundancy to Adam’s Road Station. The distribution system is currently handicapped with the Franklin Reservoir out of service. This Amendment will fund consultant services to continue the fast-track design, provide construction phase construction administration and resident project representation services to turnover a new 5-million-gallon reservoir at the Franklin Booster Station. The site plan will allow for a future 5-million-gallon reservoir if needed.
2. The second component of this Amendment provides $988,000.00 of additional funds to Brown and Caldwell’s contract to add one (1) year of construction management and resident project representation to the original base reservoir rehabilitation contract. The justification for this funds increase is the original engineering contract planned to complete 15 reservoirs in three (3) years. Due to operational constraints, this was spread out to four (4) years. The engineer did not account for this extra time/cost in their original contract. Without this additional funding, contractor oversite and construction phase administration service will cease and compromise the quality of work.
3. The third component of this amendment provides a design fee of $122,000.00 to cover the engineering design services to exchange the cleaning and inspection of the Lake Huron No. 3 reservoir for the Northwest Booster Station reservoir. The justification for this change is that the Northwest Booster Station has not been cleaned and inspected since early the 2000s while the Lake Huron plant was cleaned and inspected five (5) years ago. This Amendment also adds $500,000.00 to the provisional allowance to cover the additional contract value and associated risk. The current provisional allowance has been exhausted to fast-track the conceptional and 30% design services for the new reservoir at Franklin Station.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT STATUS
Original Contract Time 2,071 days (7/15/2022 - 03/16/2028)
Proposed Change Order No. 1 729 days (3/17/2028 - 03/15/2030)
New Contract Time 2,800 days (7/15/2022 - 03/15/2030)
PROJECT ESTIMATE
Original Contract Price $10,778,785.00
Proposed Change Order No. 1 5,435,000.00
New Contract Total $16,213,785.00
FINANCIAL PLAN IMPACT
Summary: Sufficient funds are provided in the financial plan for this project.
Funding Source: 5519 - Water Construction Fund
Cost Center: 880000 - Capital Improvement Fund
Expense Type: 617950 - Design
Project: PRJ-170802
Estimated Cost by Year and Related Estimating Variance: See table below.
Fiscal Year
Prior FY Planned Spend $ 6,758,000.00
FY 2026 Planned Spend 1,326,000.00
FY 2027 Planned Spend 769,000.00
FY 2028 Planned Spend 771,000.00
FY 2029 Planned Spend 769,000.00
FY 2030 Planned Spend 386,000.00
Financial Plan Estimate $ 10,779,000.00
Proposed Change Order Award Total 16,214,000.00
Estimating Variance $ (5,435,000.00)
FY 2026 Plan Spend per CIP $ 1,326,000.00
FY 2026 Plan Spend adjusted for award value 2,563,000.00
FY 2026 Estimating Variance $ (1,237,000.00)
A budget amendment will be made in the amount of $1,237,000.00 for use of Capital Reserves to fund the negative estimating variance for FY26. The remaining estimating variance balance of $4,198,000.00 has been adjusted for in the future CIP Plan documents.
COMMITTEE REVIEW
This item was presented to the Operations and Resources Committee at its meeting on March 11, 2026.
SHARED SERVICES IMPACT
This item does not impact the shared services agreement between GLWA and DWSD.