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Though the Bonner Springs City Council Monday night approved more than $19,000-worth of change orders to the Front Street improvement project, under way since October, members made it clear they weren’t happy about it.

“It’s starting to get frustrating,” council member Wayne Gray of the change orders that include those to the new sanitary sewer and storm inlets that will be installed. “It’s just little things, they get frustrating and I don’t think there’s any repercussions to anybody except for the city, and that’s what’s bothering me.”

At least two of the nine change orders were due to mistakes made on the project plans when they originally went out to bid. According to the memorandum in that night’s agenda, the use of sod in the site restoration portion of the project was mistakenly labeled in the plans as seed. The use of seed would be ineffectual at this time as the area is outside the seeding season.

City manager John “Jack” Helin said the city was to blame for the mistake.

“It was our fault,” Helin said. “We promised sod, we didn’t catch it on the bid specs.”

Another mistake in the plans was the request for six type 12 curb storm inlets, when the request should have been for six type 12 special curb storm inlets.

“The special inlets are larger and will accept the existing pipes, which the standard inlets will not,” noted the memorandum.

Because of a remaining $4,414.16 left in the Kansas Department of Transportation grant that was awarded to the city for the project, the city will only be responsible for $14,878.12 of the change orders.

The Front Street change orders come on the heels of six change orders approved by the City Council during the last meeting to the new Fire/EMS facility.

More of this story can be found in the Dec. 17 issue of the Chieftain.

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