Litchfield Trims Campground Contract by $202,374 to Keep Project Within Budget

Litchfield City Council Meeting | July 16, 2026

Article Summary: The Litchfield City Council approved a change order reducing the city’s Lake Lou Yeager Campground Improvements contract with Stutz Excavating, Inc. by $202,374.20, shifting more than $200,000 of work in-house after the project came in over budget.

Campground Change Order Key Points:

• The change order deletes $206,928.20 of contracted work the city will perform in-house and adds $4,554 for tree removal requiring equipment the city lacks.
• The contract with Stutz Excavating drops from $849,717.90 to $647,343.70, with a completion date of July 18, 2027.
• Staff stressed the reduction reflects the project running over budget, not getting cheaper — the city still incurs labor, equipment and material costs.
• A grant is helping fund the campground project (grant program name unverified in the record — see Editorial Flags).

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield City Council on Thursday, July 16, 2026, approved a resolution authorizing a change order for the Lake Lou Yeager Campground Improvements project, reducing the city’s contract with Stutz Excavating, Inc. by $202,374.20.

“You don’t hear that word very often,” Alderperson Robbin Huffman remarked of the price reduction as she read the motion. But the city administrator cautioned the council against reading it as savings. “This is not because the project is getting cheaper. This is because the project is over budget,” she said. “So we’re trying to take on as much work in-house as we can.” The city will still incur labor, equipment, time and material expenses on that work, she said, but less than having the general contractor do it. “We’re just trying to stretch our funds as much as we can.”

According to the packet, the city, M.G. Engineers and Stutz Excavating held a preconstruction meeting on the campground expansion — described in the staff memo as “the bicentennial campground expansion” — and determined the city could complete portions of the work itself. The change order deletes $206,928.20 in work: aggregate surface course for RV camp sites (474 tons at $185, $87,690); 4-inch PCC sidewalk (723 square feet at $21.40, $15,472.20); landscape timbers (5,820 feet at $10.55, $61,401); a domestic water meter ($8,150); three campground grills ($3,735); four martin birdhouses ($2,280); and grading and earthwork ($28,200). It adds one item: $4,554 for tree removal requiring more equipment than the city possesses.

Per the change order form, the original contract price of $849,717.90 falls to $647,343.70, with completion of all work set for July 18, 2027. The administrator said the city has a grant for the project and is working to use that funding to the best of its ability. (The transcript’s rendering of the grant program’s name could not be verified — see Editorial Flags.)

The Lake Superintendent, Street Superintendent, Public Works Coordinator and City Administrator recommended approval, per the packet. Huffman’s motion drew an enthusiastic second — “Everybody wanted to second that one,” Mayor Jacob Fleming joked — and the resolution passed unanimously on roll call.