WESTFIELD – The Water Commission voted Tuesday night to approve two change orders to the water improvements which are part of the ongoing Gas Light District infrastructure upgrade and road reconstruction project.
Change orders are submitted to the board to pay for work which was unanticipated when the contract was awarded or for additional work identified, usually by engineers, as the project progresses.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said that Change Order #8 is revenue neutral because the change incorporates several cost avoidance options, such as $50,000 for traffic control and substitutes less expensive options for the underground structures such as valves and gates, changes requested by the Water Resource Department.
“There are both savings and new costs so this change order is cost neutral, a zero sum,” Cressotti said.
Commission Chairman Ronald Cole said that he could not remember another change order that came with a $0 cost attached.
Commissioner Michael Burns said “I like this, we should have more.”
That glow of savings was short-lived as the commission members considered Change Order #9, which come as the result of people thinking forward to satisfy future projected needs and at a cost of $15,254.
Cressotti said that several of the changes in that order deal with project infrastructure requirements of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority Transit Pavilion on Arnold Street.
“The Transit center has certain needs, such as access to water, natural gas, electricity and sewers,” Cressotti said. “The Elm Street lot will have similar needs and the designers want to bring the utilities for that building from Arnold Street to avoid cutting Elm Street because of the recent improvements done there.”
The Elm Street Urban Renewal Plan is a three-part project with the Transit Pavilion being the first phase. The plan also calls for construction of a mixed-use commercial building along Elm Street and a multistory parking garage along Church Street.
