Some City of Lawrence road maintenance work in 2023 didn’t go through the proper approval process, resulting in an unexpected expense of more than $100,000 for the Public Works Department’s budget.
Lawrence Public Works Director Chris Wilburn told the Board of Public Works Aug. 22 that the original contract with Midwest Paving was properly approved, but two change orders — additional expenses on top of the contractual agreement — received informal approval from the previous administration’s city engineer. The engineer at that time also served as the public works director.
Board Secretary Renea Rafala said the city apparently received the two change orders from Midwest Paving in October 2023, and the company got approval for those expenses via an email from the engineer. The work was completed and invoices were sent.
“We were processing the final invoices and there wasn’t enough money,” Rafala said. “So, we went digging and found these two change orders that had never been approved by the Board of Public Works. I can’t request a purchase order without (approval).”
Wilburn said the department plans to establish more stringent internal processes to make sure the city doesn’t find itself in a similar situation again.
“There will have to be checks and balances, because this is such an egregious error on the part of the Department of Public Works and we take full responsibility,” he said, noting that he wanted to be transparent about what happened. “We want to make sure it’s on the record and it goes through the appropriate process.”
Rafala said the original contract was for $1,735,317. The first change order, which did go through the proper approval process, was for $256,024. The next two, which were not approved first by the board, were for $89,574 and $15,408.
Midwest Paving was the city’s contractor for numerous projects in 2023, including resurfacing various streets within Lawrence.
The Board of Public Works voted unanimously Aug. 22 to belatedly approve the two change orders.
The board’s next meeting is set for 5 p.m. Sept. 12 at Lawrence Government Center, 9001 E. 59th St. The board’s meetings also are streamed live on the city’s Facebook page, facebook.com/cityoflawrencein; and its YouTube channel, youtube.com/@visitlawrenceindiana.
