Friday, August 15, 2014
 
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City says “No” to additional billings

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[August 15, 2014]  LINCOLN - Tuesday evening at the Lincoln City Council committee-of-the-whole workshop, Mayor Keith Snyder brought to aldermen’s attention matters regarding expenditures from contractors and engineers related to work done on city streets.

“No” to Maurer-Stutz

The first was a bill from Maurer-Stutz; the contractors who had done heat scarification and seal coating on a number of streets earlier this spring. The bill was in the amount of $1,002.50 and was for some oversight services performed, but not authorized by the city.

Snyder said the company had done the required documentation of seal coat quantities and had overseen the striping on certain streets. The company had not been asked to do this, and Snyder said city street superintendent Walt Landers was prepared to perform those tasks.

As the matter was being presented, Landers told the council that in spite of the unauthorized work, the project on the whole had come in under budget more than enough to cover this added expense.

Snyder commented that in general, he didn’t like the idea of the company asking for more money after the fact, and especially for work they were not asked to do.
 


Tom O’Donohue also commented saying his concern was that this would send a message to contractors in general that they can exceed their bid and/or perform duties they were not asked to, and still count on the city paying the bill.

The conversation veered briefly as Jonie Tibbs said she wasn’t all that pleased with the work the firm had done on Clinton Street. She surmised the resurfacing had not been graded down for private driveways. She said residents along that street now had a big bump when pulling in and out of their driveways. However, Landers and Snyder said the mirco-surfacing should not have caused that kind of problem because the new top-coat was only one-quarter inch thick. Therefore, neither one of them was willing to suggest the problem was caused by Maurer-Stutz.

Without much more discussion, Snyder asked if anyone was willing to put this item on the voting agenda. O’Donohue asked what the council would be saying if they do not put it on the agenda. Snyder said the council would be saying “No” to the request for payment.

After that, no one requested that it go on the agenda, so the bill will not be paid by the city.

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“No” to Prairie Engineers

The second request for additional funding came from Prairie Engineers and pertained to engineering oversight of the Pulaski Street road construction project.

Snyder said the firm has reached the contractual limits for engineering observation of the Pulaski Street project. They were now asking for an addition 290 hours of oversight at a cost of $80 per hour and a total increase over the original contract of $23,200.

Snyder said he had several email communications with the firm and was sharing those with the council. He noted the additional dollars would amount to a 21-percent increase over the original contract.

Marty Neitzel asked if the original contract had been a “closed end” contract; and Snyder said it had. He explained the council had approved hiring Prairie Engineers for 95 working days of oversight at a total cost “not to exceed $107,000.”

Snyder said in emails from Darren Forgy, the reason for the additional time had been because the contractor, Stark, had worked additional days on the project.

Again the question was asked, was anyone prepared to put this request on the voting agenda; and no one responded. By not adding the item to the agenda, the council was effectively saying they are not willing to pay additional costs to Prairie Engineers.

[By NILA SMITH]

 

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