Fort Bragg City Council Delays Street Project Sign-Off Amid Bond and Road Quality Concerns
Approves $200,000 change order for reservoir project
The Fort Bragg City Council postponed formal acceptance of several recent street projects during their Jan. 12 meeting, following public complaints about road conditions, project oversight, and the release of contractor bonds.
Several residents urged the council to delay approving consent calendar items related to public works projects, citing visible defects and inadequate preparation work on streets including North Harbor Drive and Laurel Street. (See a video of North Harbor Drive below.) One major concern was that declaring the projects complete could reduce the city’s leverage to require repairs at no additional cost.
City staff recommended proceeding with notices of completion, saying inspections conducted in November found the work met contract specifications. Assistant Director of Engineering Chantell O’Neal said any defects identified later would be addressed under a one-year warranty period.
O’Neal told the council that slurry seal performance is highly weather-dependent and that known problem areas have already been placed on a “watch list” for corrective work during the summer construction season.
O’Neal also cautioned that withholding completion could unfairly restrict contractors’ ability to bid on other public projects by impacting their financial position.
Councilmembers questioned whether approving completion during winter condition was necessary, given ongoing public concerns.
Resident Jacob Patterson argued that releasing bonds could weaken protections intended for the city and argued that project management failures — not contractor workmanship alone — contributed to the problems.
”Those bonds were there to protect us,” Patterson said. “And we’re giving away our leverage — basically our insurance — once we release that obligation.”
After discussion, the council voted to pull the notice of completion for the 2025 Streets and Stop Gap Projects from the consent calendar and to hold a change order for the 2025 Pavement Preservation and Stop Gap Paving projects for further review. Council members agreed to revisit both items with additional information at a future meeting. The remainder of the consent calendar was approved.
Costs Increase for New Reservoirs
Later in the meeting, the council approved a $200,000 budget amendment to cover increased design and environmental costs for the construction of three raw water reservoirs at the end of Summers Lane. A change order from Waterworks Engineers raises the city’s total engineering contract with the firm for the project to more than $909,000.
The original design contract, approved in August 2024, totaled $705,385. O’Neal explained that additional costs had emerged as the project advanced and site conditions became better understood, including the need to redesign pipeline routes to avoid sensitive habitat and accommodate changes in reservoir placement.
“The more we’ve learned about the site and the further we’ve advanced the design, we’ve realized that revisions were needed from the original assumptions,” O’Neal said.
The reservoirs are intended to improve long-term water supply reliability.
In other action, the council approved moving forward with a 2025 application for a federal Community Development Block Grant for a project focused on sidewalk rehabilitation. They also reached a consensus on a proposed restructuring of water and sewer rates aimed at improving fairness and complying with recent court rulings.
Staff and councilmember reports included plans to reopen the CV-STARR Community Center pool later this month, upcoming meetings on the possible creation of a parks and recreation department, a proposal to invest in public works equipment and a street crew; and new community outreach efforts by the Fort Bragg Police Department, including a citizens academy and gang-awareness training.
Thank you for the coverage, much appreciated!