RESOURCE RECOVERY AND RECYCLING CAMPUS - CHANGE ORDER NO. 4 FOR JENSEN BUILDERS, LTD.
On March 24, 2026, the City Council approved final plans and specifications and awarded contracts for the construction of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Campus (R3C). At that meeting, 11 separate bid packages (BPs) were award to various contractors. Eighteen change orders have been approved for the various bid packages to date, with the majority of the changes resulting from the value engineering process that occurred follow bid opening.
There have been three change orders approved to date for Jensen Builders, Ltd. for BP 3-1 - Concrete & Steel Work. Change Order No. 1, a deduction in the amount of $174,948.97, was approved by City Council on March 24, 2025, and included value engineering deductions to reduce the project construction cost. Change Order No. 2, in the amount of $15,927.55, was approved by staff and included the addition of embedded steel plates installed within the tunnel wall so that future protective plating could be installed. Change Order No. 3, in the amount of $13,875.90, was approved by staff and included changes to the scale house siding to match the transfer station siding.
The R3C utilizes a partial tunnel located several feet below the elevation of the tipping floor. Semi trucks will pull trailers into the tunnel, where they will be loaded from above with a wheel loader located on the tipping floor above. The wall adjacent to the transfer tunnel has two bays that can be utilized to load two transfer trailers at the same time.
The southern-most bay wall is likely to be utilized most heavily for loading municipal solid waste (MSW) into transfer trailers because it is directly adjacent to the processing equipment. The southern bay wall is protected by heavy AR-400 steel plates that are designed to take the brunt of the wear and damage associated with the handling of the MSW.
The northern bay wall does not include the protective plating because the majority of the loading operations are assumed at the southern bay. However, staff believes it is appropriate to protect the northern bay wall as well, as there will be times where loading operations will need the additional bay. It is more cost effective to include the wall protection in the construction now than to retrofit at a later date. Change Order No. 4 includes the installation of the additional wall plating at a cost of $75,764.25. Revenue for this change order will come from the project contingency fund which currently has $413,321.22.
A summary of awarded project contracts and proposed change orders is below:
| BID PACKAGE | CONTRACTOR | AS BID AMOUNT | PREVIOUSLY APPROVED CHANGE ORDERS | PROPOSED CHANGE ORDER | REVISED CONTRACT TOTALS |
| 01-1 – General Construction Work | RH Grabau Construction, Inc., Boone, IA | $1,601,000 | ($126,110) |
|
$1,474,890 |
| 03-1 – Concrete and Steel Work | Jensen Builders, Ltd., Des Moines, IA | $4,675,500 | ($145,145.52) |
75,764.25 (this Council action) |
$4,606,118.73 |
| 09-1 – Gypsum Board Assembly Work | Heartland Finishes, Inc., Des Moines, IA | $430,675 | ($30,000) | $400,675 | |
| 14-1 – Elevator/Lift Work | TK Elevator Corporation, Urbandale, IA | $109,800 | -- | $109,800 | |
| 21-1 – Fire Suppression Systems Work | Tri-City Fire Protection LLC, Davenport, IA | $169,284 | -- | $169,284 | |
| 22-1 – Plumbing & HVAC Work | ACI Mechanical, Inc., Ames, IA | $1,180,000 | -- | $1,180,000 | |
| 26-1 – Electrical, Communications, & Electronic Safety and Security Work | Enterprise Electric, Inc., Boone, IA | $1,329,000 | ($50,970) | $1,278,030 | |
| 31-1 – Site Demolition & Earthwork | Con-Struct, Inc., Ames, IA | $575,000 | $218,568 |
|
$793,568 |
| 32-1 – Paving & Sidewalk Work | Lakeside Contractors, LLC, Ames, IA | $1,028,129 | ($12,728.85) |
$1,015,400.15 | |
| 33-1 – Site Utility Work | On Track Construction LLC, Nevada, IA | $723,370 | ($31,695) | $691,675 | |
| 40-1 – Millwright/Process Integration Work | RRT Design & Construction, Melville, NY | $7,798,009 | ($1,255,792) | $6,542,217 | |
| ORIGINAL BID TOTAL |
$19,619,767 |
|
|
||
| SUM OF CHANGE ORDERS |
|
($1,433,873.37) |
$75,764.25 |
|
|
| REVISED CONTRACT TOTAL |
|
|
|
$18,261,657.88 |
A revised project budget is provided below:
|
Budgeted Revenues |
Budgeted Expenses | ||
| Revenue Abated G.O. Bonds | $22,006,730 | Land Acquisition (220, 306, 312, 318, 400 Freel Drive) | $1,077,500 |
| Fleet Services Reserve Fund | 425,000 | Due Diligence prior to closing |
15,465 |
| FY 2025/26 Stormwater Quality Improvements CIP | 159,077 | Conceptual Design and Financial Modeling |
50,000 |
| Electric Services Rebate |
3,000 |
Final Design |
965,715 |
|
Solid Waste Alternatives Program (SWAP) Grants |
100,000 |
Final Design Contingency |
75,000 |
|
|
|
Permitting |
36,930.85 |
|
|
|
Builder's Risk Insurance |
25,444 |
|
|
|
Construction Contracts (as bid) |
$19,619,767 |
|
|
|
Previously approved change orders |
(1,433,873.37) |
|
|
|
Proposed Change Order #4 (this Council Action) |
75,764.25 |
|
|
|
Construction Incentives |
100,000 |
|
|
|
Items by Owner (FFE/Cameras/Fiber Network/Tree Clearing) |
266,600 |
|
|
|
Construction Contingency (revised) |
337,556.97 |
|
|
|
Construction Inspection (est) |
75,000 |
|
|
|
Construction Manager Fee (Fixed fees plus 2.25% of contract amounts) (revised) |
958,927.30 |
|
|
|
Construction Manager General Conditions Costs (est.) |
448,000 |
|
R3C Construction Revenue Subtotal |
$22,693,807 |
R3C Construction Subtotal |
$22,693,807 |
|
Electric Utility Fund |
$2,340,000 |
Mobile Equipment - New Transfer Trucks (6x) (actual) |
$1,230,384 |
|
G.O. Bonds |
$975,000 |
Mobile Equipment - New Transfer Trailers (7x) (actual) |
942,585 |
|
Unobligated G.O. Bonds |
225,000 |
Mobile Equipment - Use Transfer Trailers (3x) (est.) |
180,000 |
|
Water Utility Fund |
40,000 |
Freel Drive Paving (as bid + contract admin) |
$1,102,310 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Project Revenues |
$26,273,807 |
Total Project Expenses |
$26,149,086 |
- Approve Change Order No. 4 to Jensen Builders LTD., of Des Moines, IA, in the amount of $75,764.25.
- Do not approve the change order and direct staff to make other modifications to the project.
Providing plated protection of the walls adjacent to the transfer tunnel will protect the integrity of the building structure and benefit the long-term operational capabilities of the R3C. Including the plates now during construction will allow the work to take place without interrupting the ability to transfer MSW in the future. Retrofitting the plates at a later date will be more expensive and impact operations at the facility. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council approve Alternative 1, as described above.