MONUMENT • The Raspberry Lane water main project has thrown the town’s public works department some costly curveballs. However, hiccups were expected.

The Monument Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution Sept. 7 to authorized a change order to its contract with Noraa Concrete Construction Co. The change order expands the scope of the project to cover unforeseen additional labor and materials costs, and a change of design.

The resolution has been in the works for the past month as the water main and infrastructure records dating to the late 1970s did not show the existing main was longer than anticipated.

“In the Raspberry Lane subdivision, we get surprised almost every day,” public works director Tom Tharnish said of the project that began in July. “We found a lot of hidden things that weren’t marked; power lines not marked, sewer lines at the wrong elevation. That’s one of the reasons that subdivision has had so many problems over the years.”

The funding for the project

comes from the town’s Certificate of Participation bond funds, acquired to improve the town’s water system and other infrastructure. The additional scope of work incurs a cost of $128,000. However, Tharnish said since the original contract was under budget, the excess of funds would still allow the additional cost to fall within budget limits.

The additional cost now extends the project cost to just over $1 million, he said.

It was decided to install

It was decided to install a new section of the water main from one entrance of the subdivision to the other and make it a 12inch pipe. The additional distance incurs additional cost as well as the need for an air vent at the peak of the hill on Raspberry Lane in case air gets trapped in the line, among other accommodations to issues unforeseen.

a new section of the water main from one entrance of the subdivision to the other and make it a 12-inch pipe. The additional distance incurs additional cost as well as the need for an air vent at the peak of the hill on Raspberry Lane in case air gets trapped in the line, among other accommodations to issues unforeseen.

The infrastructure of the subdivision is almost 50 years old, Tharnish said, and was originally constructed when previous generations were not keeping “good records, let alone maps.”

“We knew going in we would have surprises and have to correct things we didn’t plan on,” Tharnish said.

Among other resolutions regarding town infrastructure, the board approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation to access a $200,000 grant for an overlay project on Old Denver Road.

Tharnish said this grant does not require matching funds from the town and the “shovel ready” project public works proposed was the overlay of Old Denver Road from Creek Valley Circle. It would continue south as far as it can go with the $200,000 budget.

“We’re going to go both lanes, north- and south-bound, as far as we can, which we think is somewhere in the neighborhood of Ranchero Drive,” Tharnish said.

The board approved the resolution to enter the agreement for the grant funding, and later approved a follow-up resolution awarding the contract for the work to Martin Marietta, pending the town receiving the grant from CDOT.