Park County commissioners voted to support a City of Cody change order that adds scope to the septage receiving facility project and to cap the county’s additional funding exposure.

City and county staff said the project—designed to close and replace aging county septic lagoons by consolidating septage receiving at the City of Cody’s wastewater plant—has been under design and construction with a guaranteed maximum price. The city and Engineering Associates explained a change order of about $335,402 is needed primarily to incorporate Microcom SCADA controls, associated electrical work, and fabricated control cabinets that were not fully scoped during the October 2024 contracting deadline. County staff said meeting that ARPA funding deadline required contracting before all SCADA details were finalized and that the earlier $100,000 placeholder proved insufficient.

Philip Bowman, public works director for the City of Cody, and Eric Wachup of Engineering Associates described the construction as roughly 50% complete; much of the remaining work requires delivery and integration of made‑to‑order control equipment. Wachup said procurement lead times for electronic components and the integration work are the primary drivers of the extended schedule. The revised schedule presented to commissioners set substantial completion in early June 2026 and final completion by July 2, 2026.

Funding: Park County and the City of Cody jointly secured state ARPA funds and committed local matching ARPA for an initial project budget of about $4,000,004.43. With the change order the project budget was shown at roughly $4.9 million and county staff reported a worst‑case additional county exposure of about $476,567; staff and city representatives said much of that sits in project contingency and that a realistic county exposure is nearer $300,000–$310,000. The city indicated it would absorb roughly $170,000 of the change order and seek to cover its share from its wastewater fund and future rates; the county agreed to cap its exposure at no more than $310,000 unless the commission authorizes additional funds.

Commissioners noted the long‑term operational savings and liability reduction of moving away from the aging county lagoons and approved recommending the city proceed with the change order subject to the stated county funding cap and schedule.