Big dig behind schedule
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The Mount Ayr city council received an engineering update on the water distribution system update project at their regular meeting Monday, May 20.
Mark Fincel, lead engineer on the project from Garden and Associates, provided the council a detailed memo outlining progress on the project so far.
Fincel reported work in Division 1 in the west side of town was behind schedule. Contractors with Jordan and Sons have completed nearly 18 percent of their contracted work time, but less than 10 percent of new piping has been installed.
He attributed the lack of progress on contractor errors, including damaging four marked utilities, not having materials on site, and incomplete or missing paperwork.
Fincel reported good progress in the other divisions of the project.
In Divisions 2 and 4 north and south of the square, contractors from Poe Construction have completed 4.9 percent of their contracted time and have installed 5 percent of their piping.
In Division 3 around the square, contractors with Crain Construction have used 10.7 percent of their contracted time and have installed 16 percent of their piping.
Fincel also summarized a number of construction change orders and amendments to the engineering contract for the project.
Following his explanation, the council approved three change orders totaling $21,000 and payment requests for work completed totaling $476,214.56.
Fincel then turned the council’s attention to the recently relocated water system booster station. He reported the project is essentially complete and recommended the council take formal action to accept the finished project and release final payments to contractor Hymbaugh Construction of $13,075, including a $8,990 retainage that can be released after 31 days.
He said the station is fully operational and performing up to standards, a problem that had plagued the station at its previous location.
(In a related matter, after a closed session with attorney Bill Miller with the law firm of Dorsey and Whitney, the council voted 3-2 in favor of continuing litigation with the MSA engineering firm for costs related to the relocation of the station. (Council members Brad Elliott and Don Solliday voted no.) MSA engineers had been responsible for the design, original location and construction of the station.)
Pool issues
In his report, city superintendent Brent Wise reported the city crew had detected a leak as they filled the pool in preparation for the upcoming swimming season.
However, he said the leak mysteriously disappeared after a couple days, and the pool should be ready to open as scheduled May 31.
The council stated it was their intention to keep the pool open this summer, barring any catastrophic system failures.
The council also approved a policy that will require all public and private Red Cross Certified swimming lessons be scheduled through city hall. Lifeguards employed by the city will then be paid their regular hourly rate to instruct the lessons.
