By DAVE SCHULTZ
Construction on the city’s new water filtration plant is completed, but there are questions as to the contractor’s performance.
The work was completed 90 days after the original deadline for completion. Language in the contract indicates the contractor — Crosby Construction of Fort Wayne — should be liable for $1,000 a day in what are known as liquidated damages.
Members of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety met with Mark Sullivan, the CEO of Midwestern Engineers, to discuss the situation. Sullivan’s company designed the improvements to the city’s water system and supervised the work.
Tuesday’s meeting came a week after the Board of Works held a work session with Russell Jacobs, a representative of Crosby Construction. The company’s contention is that it did the best it could under the circumstances. COVID-19 resulted in delays for the company and its workers and also for its subcontractors, particularly in terms of supply chain issues.
There is $221,0000 in retainage, money in the contract held back to ensure final completion. The question before the board Tuesday was whether Crosby should pay $90,000 because the deadline was not met.
One of the issues discussed Tuesday was that Sullivan’s company had $76,000 in bills for inspection work. The delays extended the inspection window.
The Board of Works members — Mayor John Whicker, Scott Mentzer, and Roger Thornton — believe the inspection fee should be paid by Crosby.
“Mark’s bill to them — that’s on the contractor,” Thornton said. “If the old plant had failed, we would have been in deep problems.”
Thornton was much more of a hardliner in holding Crosby responsible for the delays and associated costs. Mentzer, whose business was also affected by the pandemic, was more sympathetic to what Crosby had been through.
“The COVID(-19) excuse is powerful,” Mentzer said. “We were at risk, but at the end of the day, we didn’t incur damages.”
Whicker had a question of his own: If an agreement can’t be reached, does the city file a lawsuit?
“As mayor, I have to ask — how much of the taxpayers’ money are will willing to spend to litigate it?”
Crosby had been in front of the board to ask for deadline extensions, and some had been granted. Still, there were questions as to why the company did not come before the board to ask for extensions during the last 90 days.
No resolution of the matter came out of Tuesday’s meeting, but City Attorney Tony Crowell, Sullivan, and Whicker will communicate as to what the city’s response should be.
The matter has to be resolved within 30 days of the final invoice, which Crowell said would be May 20.
daves@news-banner.com
