Administrator: Timing of change orders 'perplexing'

With Hernando County under the gun to get the stalled Hernando Beach dredge project moving again, the county got a surprise this week in the form of two change orders from the project's consultant, Halcrow Inc.

Those change orders total $794,130.

County Administrator David Hamilton said he finds the size of these two latest change orders and the timing of those "perplexing" and has assigned Purchasing Director James Gantt to "aggressively negotiate" with Halcrow.

"It comes at a very difficult moment, both from a timing and cost aspect," Hamilton said Friday. "We have asked Jim Gantt to lead the negotiations starting next week with Halcrow (to) determine what we can do to whittle these down."

In a memo, Halcrow said the first change order, totaling $634,300, is necessary to complete on-site seagrass mitigation and to institute a series of de-watering systems mandated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The second request for $159,830 would cover the costs of seagrass monitoring.
Hamilton said the county would not be in this situation had former Department of Public Works Director Charles Mixson had more aggressively negotiated with Halcrow. Instead, he allowed these change orders - eight in all - to continue over time.

"One of our largest concerns is that we have been consistently called into this dredge project after the fact," he said. "Change orders and the full cost of the contract clearly should have been laid out to the county right from day one."

Mixson's lack of performance in dealing with the continued change orders was instrumental in his termination last month, he said.
The county hired Halcrow in 2005 to do the project for $206,450. The company's contract now totals $1.97 million.

DPW Director Susan Goebel hopes FDEP will give the go-ahead to restart Hernando Beach dredge operations by March 1, enough time to finish the project by June 30.
The state has threatened to withhold its matching funds if the $7.7 million project isn't finished in June.
As a result, Hamilton said he now may have to ask the state to extend that deadline.

Meanwhile, Hamilton said the county attorney's office has finished reviewing all contracts involving the dredge and have found no evidence of wrongdoing by Mixson involving any dredge contracts.
"They have reviewed every document," Hamilton said.

The review only confirmed that the former DPW director was negligent in his performance, Hamilton said.