GULF SHORES — The budget for the new Gulf Shores High School has been increased for the second time, this time to account for items previously omitted from contractor drawings.

Gulf Shores City Council unanimously approved the second change order for the school, being constructed at the corner of County Road 8 and Foley Beach Express, in an amount not to exceed $1,555,515. Public Works Director Noel Hand presented the item before council at its Nov. 3 work session. He said the contract with Rabren Construction is about 83% complete as the city is currently on day 607 of a 690-day contract. The tentative site completion date is March 11.

"A majority of this work has been completed for the IT and some roadway work," he said at the meeting. "… [The change order's] really just to update the schedule of values so the contractor will be able to change these line items."

Council approval was necessary for the change order to go before the state's Division of Construction Management, where it faces formal approval and the master contract is amended.

The change order covers seven items, including intersection improvements at County Road 8, preparations for signalization in the area, repaving in front of the Auburn Extension office to work with traffic timing and RGC sheetrock repairs for access control.

Hand told GCM this section of changes mostly covers work on Coastal Gateway Boulevard, AKA County Road 8.

He said the change order was presented before council as the contractor has already completed the projects despite them being outside of the scope of work, and it "made sense to do the work while they were there."

The change order request also covers previously omitted, necessary equipment such as low voltage wiring, which is "all your data cabling throughout your entire site" covering entrances and general security, fire backbone with wire, data and door security foundations and access control for door security.

"This was an error in the plans that we are working with the architect, but we needed the data lines installed for inspections and keep progress flowing and keep the schedule on time," Hand said. "This is a cleanup of items that were given to the contractor to proceed with the work."

This brings the total approved budget to up to $139,372,819. The first change order was approved in July 2024 to add $6,817,304 for the construction of the covered practice pavilion for athletics.

Hand said this change order does not affect the project timeline. The change order request was unanimously approved by council at the Nov. 10 meeting.