Craig Daily Press / Wet woes continue for CNCC

Additional work at future college site could add up to $60,000

July 2, 2008

• Colorado Northwestern Community College officials may have to make change orders to the Ninth Street extension project at its proposed new Craig campus site west of Craig.

• Soil beneath the proposed road is wet, and therefore unstable, recent studies have shown.

• Water on other parts of the site and additional changes required by the city may result in an added $60,000 expense for the college, Boyd said.

• A college building fund estimated to contain more than $2 million will cover added costs.

• Geotechnical surveys conducted last year showed that excess water was not a problem at the site, he said.

• The CNCC board is scheduled to hold a special meeting July 7 to decide how to address the issue.

Extending Ninth Street on wet soil could prove more costly than Colorado Northwestern Community College officials first anticipated.

On Tuesday, CNCC officials met with representatives from Diversified Consulting Solutions, Inc., the college’s owner’s representative, to discuss further changes to current Craig campus projects, said John Boyd, CNCC president.

The upshot of the gathering could mean making change orders, which require additional funding, to prepare the site for further construction, he said.

Per city requirements, the college is extending Ninth Street to the westernmost edge of the 100-acre parcel where it plans to build a new college campus.

However, the street extension has proven more complicated than CNCC officials first anticipated. Recent geotechnical studies show that wet conditions have made the soil beneath the proposed road unstable.

But, it’s not just water on the planned roadway that is causing the college problems.

Excess moisture in other parts of the parcel could require the college to make change orders on the project.

Tuesday’s meeting gave CNCC officials choices on how it could address those problems.

“There’s options,” Boyd said.

Whatever option the college chooses to take will require board member approval. The CNCC board is scheduled to gather at a special meeting July 7, Boyd said, adding that the time of the meeting has not yet been determined.

One choice the college faces now is installing a drainage system on the property, which could cost up to $40,000, Boyd said.

The size of the system still is unknown.

“We don’t know how far that (drainage system) is going to have to run,” Boyd said.

“We won’t know that probably until (crews) actually get digging (on the site) and find out,” he said.

The college’s other option: Wait and see if the wet conditions change.

“I don’t feel very confident with that issue right now,” Boyd said.

Other costs also come into the equation, Boyd said, including “a couple of requirements that the city has added that weren’t on the original approval.”

Those changes include installing an additional fire hydrant and moving a telephone pole, Boyd said.

All together, additional work could add about $60,000 to the cost of preparing the site for future buildings.

Funds from the college’s construction fund will pay for additional costs, Boyd said.

He estimated that the fund currently holds more than $2 million.

At its monthly meeting Monday night, the college’s board voted to approve change orders to the site up to 5 percent of the Ninth Street extension’s approximate $691,000 cost, or about $35,000.

However, a $60,000 increase equals about 8 percent of the initial estimated cost.

Finding water on the site came as a surprise to college officials.

Geotechnical surveys conducted last year showed that excessive water “wasn’t a problem,” Boyd said.

“The problem here is this isn’t something that was overlooked,” he said. “We just didn’t expect to hit ground water.”

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com.