GREEN RIVER — The Green River City Council voted 6-1 to approve a change order for the total cost of the 2024 Cape Seal Project during its meeting Tuesday night. Council Member Ron Williams was the vote against.

The change order increases the total cost of the contract by $4,635. The original contract price was $589,709.81, and the change order increases the contract price to $594,344.81. Dustin Romero, city engineer, said the increased contract price is still within the amount the city budgeted for the cape seal project.

Romero said that ultimately, this change order reflects a good thing because it accounts for extra asphalt used in the project, which means more areas were addressed throughout this project. Meeting documents, state that the size and depth of some patches were increased after the start of construction to address pavement deterioration and subsurface conditions, which the city says results in a better final product.

Council Member Williams asked Romero how much the city helped with the project, such as with removal of gravel, because the company, Morgan Pavement Maintenance, out of Clearfield, Utah, left the gravel for several weeks. Romero said when the contractors arrived to sweep the gravel, they had mechanical breakdowns on multiple vehicles, so the city did step in and finish up the sweeping.

Romero said they calculated the city’s contributions to the project into the project cost and there is a deduction of $3,000 to account for that. He said the change order reflects that. Williams also asked whether the city helped with any traffic control, which Romero said they did not except for shutting down the underpass.

Additionally, Williams asked if the contractors clean the catch basins out that have filled with gravel, or if the city would have to do that. Romero said the contractors are supposed to come this Friday to clean those out, and said the city will not be doing that.

Council Member Robert Berg asked if there were any deductions to the final cost due to the amount of time the project took, to which Romero said the deductions include that as well. Berg said in future cape seal projects, the city needs to ensure that gravel is not left on the streets for the length of time they were left this summer, as there was a lot of frustration with residents. He said there was an extended period of time where people couldn’t take out their classic cars or motorcycles due to the delay in the project.