The WAPA Governing Board on Monday approved a 240-day extension and $448,910.49 cost increase to the Undergrounding Project in Cruz Bay during an emergency meeting. WAPA said the project was met with unforeseen circumstances that caused numerous delays. The current contract was also set to expire soon.
Veron Alexander, director of project management at WAPA, said that the change order “is critical [and] very important because it pertains to the time extension to the contract we have with Haugland to do the work we have on St. John.”
Cordell Jacobs, manager of design and construction, explained that WAPA had the initial notice to proceed in January and mentioned that “some items took longer than expected,” including obtaining CZM clearance and archeologist clearances from the National Park Service which led to the delays.
According to Mr. Jacobs, the project got underway in March, however, “it started and stopped a couple of times due to misunderstanding on some of the requirements.” It was then restarted in July, "however in July the project in the Gallows Point area we uncovered several human remains in several locations,” he said. WAPA since then has been working to “determine how we move forward."
Mr. Jacobs said the cost increase was partly a result of work changes. "Based on the current schedule we are requesting to extend this contract by 240 days" which would result in a completion timeline of May 2022, he said.
Kyle Fleming, chairman of the WAPA board and director of the V.I. Energy Office, pointed out that the original contract was for 38 weeks, however WAPA is seeking an extension of 34 additional weeks. He asked whether the extension was reflecting that only a month's work had been done on the project, or whether the challenges faced have increased the timeline.
Mr. Jacobs said, “The extension reflects the new contract schedule and it does encompass the delays we have had up to this point.”