Citing issues encountered amid the work, the cost of the Boone County animal shelter construction project will exceed budget by approximately $280,000, officials said.
“This is comprised of some field issues that must be remediated, some inflationary costs related to our owner-provided equipment and a recommended change in scope for security access control,” Boone County Administrator Matthew Webster said during Tuesday’s fiscal court session.
The Boone County Fiscal Court voted 4-0 on Tuesday to approve the change orders at the Burlington construction venue totaling $280,000. A change order is the approval of any change in scope to a project, Webster said.
The approved increase was driven by the following issues encountered during the project, Webster told LINK nky:
- Sanitary sewer re-design and relocation ($92,000).
The original sewer design was changed and the line extended to avoid interference with jail operations. Existing sanitary lines, fiber and water were discovered to not be where past drawings noted them. The decision was made to redesign as any interruption to the jail operation was simply not a risk that could be taken. - Access Control/ Camera System / Security System technology Integration ($90,000).
This is a requested addition to the project which will fully integrate the security systems, access control system and camera system with the new County backbone system. - Kennel and cage system ($40,000).
The original quote for the project was voided when the company was sold. This is a critical path item for the shelter (animal cages). Staff removed a significant scope of work to mitigate cost increases that are primarily supply chain and labor oriented. - Asphalt ($26,000).
Addition of heavy-duty asphalt to complete the auxiliary drive. - Fencing/site security ($32,000).
Upgrade to motorized gate system for staff entering the shelter and enlargement of dog outdoor area. These changes are recommended to provide more efficient operations to our staff in entering and exiting the secure areas of the property and controlling animals when out of doors.
On an $8.3 million project, the county is pleased to hold the construction project cost hike to a 1.5% net increase, Webster said.
“We are also continuing our fundraising efforts, and even after our budget was approved, we continued to kind of beat the streets and raise money,” Webster said. “The budget presented and approved by the Court included a private fundraising amount totaling $2.3 million. The current privately raised fundraising total stands at $2,451,357.”
The numbers reflecting the privately raised funds translate to the project being $151,357 above the approved budget, Webster said, adding the unfunded net requested budget increase would then be $128,643.
“Our private fundraising efforts exceeded expectations,” District 3 Commissioner Jesse Brewer said.
The county will be launching a “day of giving” campaign and hosting a donor event in December in conjunction with the animal shelter and Boone County Communications Director Elaine Zeinner to continue to raise funds, Webster said.
“We have a pretty high degree of certainty we will be able to raise the $128,000 difference,” Webster said. “Because the amount is above the amount that was approved by the Court, I wanted to report that and get the Court’s authorization to exceed the approved amount by the $280,000 so that we can support and complete the animal shelter project.”
The county anticipates staff will be prepared to start moving operations to the facility in December and be at final completion by the first of February and the goal is to be fully functioning in the new facility no later than March 1, Webster said.
“I’m very pleased that the project of this size and complexity has had relatively few construction issues,” Webster said. “For that I would commend our staff, construction manager and our architect, who have all worked together very closely to find no-cost solutions to dozens of field issues and to ensure that our efforts have been successful.”
Animal shelter staff has continued to engage in private fundraising to lessen additional costs, Webster said.
