City staff asked the committee April 8 to forward a request for an additional $100,000 in funding for Clearview Park, citing an unplanned cost increase after the city updated its building code.

Jacob Cherry of Wold (project engineer) told the committee that after the city adopted new 2024 building‑code amendments the project moved from not requiring sprinklers to a threshold that now triggers a fire‑suppression system. Cherry presented a contractor change‑order estimate totaling about $209,000 for the sprinkler system, transformer relocation and a Knox box for the fire department. He said the project has contingency and reductions in other unit‑price allowances may return some funds to the project, and recommended appropriating $100,000 now so the contractor can continue work while final numbers and any returned contingency are reconciled.

Cherry said the building is about 3,900 square feet and that much of the sprinkler cost is associated with external equipment and water‑service connections: “What I'm presenting here is a change order proposal for $209,000… the reason that we're not asking you to appropriate that full amount is because we have contingency in the project,” Cherry said.

Council members questioned the scale of the increase and whether the city’s lowered sprinkler threshold should be revisited. Several members asked staff to explore procurement or subcontracting options to ensure the city receives competitive pricing; the project team said they had sought multiple bids for the site utilities subcontract and asked the prime contractor to seek lower pricing from its subcontractors.

A motion to forward the request to council for consideration of an additional $100,000 passed unanimously at the committee stage. Staff said the appropriation would be implemented via an approved change order process and that any returned contingency would be applied to reduce the net cost.

The committee also asked staff to ensure change orders are routed through the usual review channels and to present final cost reconciliation when available.