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Contractor Had Sought Added Funds from City of Calexico to Cover Rising Gas Costs

CALEXICO — City staff will review a series of change orders tied to the ongoing airport taxiway rehabilitation project after some City Council members objected to the contractor’s request for additional funds to cover increased gas expenses.

The three separate change orders, submitted by Heber-based Pyramid Construction and Aggregates Inc., sought about $133,000 in funds from the city to cover an “oil price escalation,” which includes increased gas expenses for construction vehicles that must take detours around a pair of closed bridges in and around Calexico.

The requested $133,000 in change orders sought for the oil price escalation was coupled with two additional change orders that sought a total of $146,000 for the replacement of a driveway at the airport, as well as the replacement of some of its electrical infrastructure.

Ultimately, those latter two change orders were approved by the council during its regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 17. The other three change orders were tabled at the suggestion of council member Rosie Arreola Fernandez and are expected to return before the council for further consideration in about a month.

The airport improvement project consists of the full-length reconstruction of the taxiway pavement and the adjacent pavement areas. Additional improvements are being made to the taxiway’s shoulder, infield grading, drainage, lights, signage and markings, as well as relocating the perimeter fence.

Council member Camilo Garcia was first to raise concerns about the change orders related to the oil price escalation, the term used in the agenda item’s backup documents.

Garcia questioned whether the city was obligated to pay the requested amount since the city wasn’t entirely responsible for the bridge closures. Those closures include the Dogwood Road bridge, which is county property, and the Anza Road bridge, which Garcia acknowledged lies within the city’s jurisdiction.

“Why are they passing this cost to us when we’re not at fault?” he asked.

The three change orders specifically requested added compensation for the oil price escalation and the bridge closures’ impact on the project’s aggregate base course ($15,000), asphalt surface course ($116,950), and temporary fuel truck access road ($1,162).

Arreola Fernandez echoed Garcia’s questioning of the funding request and wondered aloud whether the city could instead only pay a portion of the requested amount.

“Why should we pay for everything?” she asked.

She also asked to have the city attorney review the change orders to determine whether the contractor was within their rights to seek added compensation for gas expenses related to bridge closures.

When asked for clarification about whether the change orders were requesting the funds because of added fuel costs, Public Works Manager Liliana Falomir responded affirmatively.

Falomir also acknowledged that the funding request was permissible under the terms of the project.

Pyramid Construction vehicles were having to use Highway 111 and Cesar Chavez Avenue as alternate routes to bypass the closed bridges, she explained. She further disclosed that the change orders tied to the oil price escalation amounted to about 2 percent of the project’s overall cost.

The airport improvement project, which started in April and stands around 95 percent complete, has about $4.12 million in grant funding available from the Federal Aviation Administration, Falomir said.

Pyramid’s approved bid for the project totaled about $3.12 million, and included a 15 percent contingency budget, or about $470,000, according to backup documents. Previously, a $74,000 change order was approved for the project.

Yet, even if the city was to determine it could avoid paying Pyramid Construction for the added fuel expenses, it would still have incurred costs by having its legal counsel review the matter, Falomir said.

Mayor Pro Tem Raul Ureña estimated that the latest change orders amounted to about a quarter of the contingency budget, and questioned why council member Garcia was opposed to their approval.

“I don’t know why we’re slowing things down to analyze such a relatively small amount,” Ureña said. “I think it’s nitpicking.”

Garcia objected to Ureña’s characterization and reminded Ureña that he, too, had repeatedly opposed proposed expenditures within the city’s annual budget. Garcia argued that he was simply practicing due diligence and wanted to set a precedent for the city to ensure it’s being vigilant with change orders.

See alsoIn Local NewsCalexico Postpones FY 2023 Budget ApprovalJulio Morales on June 28, 2022

“Even a couple thousand (dollars) could be quite a bit of money,” Garcia said.

Prior to the council’s unanimous decision to table the matter, Mayor Javier Moreno stated that the city was likely to keep encountering change orders from construction projects since it lacked an in-house engineer who could review and address potential issues.

“We’re going to go through this forever until we solve the problem,” Moreno said.

The City Council unanimously approved a job description and salary range for an airport fuel lineman during its meeting on Wednesday.

Previously, the city had allocated funding for the hiring of two part-time fuel linemen positions for fiscal 2022-2023. The job description and salary range needed to be approved prior to any job recruitment and hiring takes place.

The monthly salary range for the job is listed as $2,625 to $3,479.

The council also approved two separate letters announcing the city’s support of the Southern Border Region’s Economic Equity Plan (SBREEP).

As part of its support for the SBREEP, the city will take part in the plan’s High Road Training Collaborative, which will select a steering committee to help move the plan forward.

The Economic Equity Plan aims to increase access to high-end jobs, training programs and identify opportunities for investment.

The two separate letters of support were approved on behalf of Comite Civico del Valle and the Imperial Valley Small Business Development Center.