By JONATHAN SNYDER
Three work change orders for city projects were approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday.
A wastewater treatment plant change order included a new generator breaker and segregation barriers for the electrical switchgear on site. Casey Irwin of DLZ explained that the switchgear is a breaker panel that switches the new wastewater facility to generator power, should an outage occur. The segregation barriers act as “a breaker panel on steroids” according to Irwin. The not to exceed $79,700 directive approved by the Board of Works will come out of the general work allowance fund, meaning there is no change to the total contract price.
Spot repairs for the sewer lining project were also approved by the board. Spot repairs will occur at South Bennet, West South, East Arnold, South Johnson, West Wabash and South Main streets. $197,925 will be taken out of the $400,000 budget in the work allowance to pay for the additions, meaning no change to the final cost of the project. Irwin reported that the estimated costs for the sewer lining work are $300,000 to $380,000 below budget, including the most recent additions.
USI Consulting’s Rich Ansel reported to the board that when the curb work documents were put out for grants, some needed curbs were not added into the original document. While the expectation was that the bid was 20% under USI’s estimate, according to Ansel, the new additions mean that the bid is only 10% under the estimate. Board member Josh Hunt clarified that the city will still be getting grant funding for the project and the $249,475 expense is still within the city’s budget.
Ordinance Control Officer Melissa Zirkle also came to the board to discuss three garbage and rubbish complaints. The violations are on 226 West South St., 527 West Arnold St. and 521 South Marion St. Zirkle also wanted to discuss the next steps if fines are needed for these violations. Board Member Scott Mentzer and City Attorney Tony Crowell stated that the fine structure is $25 per day, with a $2,500 cap for the first violation and a $7,500 cap for any additional violations.
Mayor John Whicker also announced that Bluffton NOW! President Mike Lautzenheiser will meet with the board to discuss who is responsible for paying the bills for electricity used at the plaza. While the plaza is owned by the Bluffton NOW!, according to the board, he agreed that the electric power used in the new alleyway project could be handled by the city.
Additional actions are as follows:
• Paid a $59,337 SRF Claim to DLZ for the wastewater treatment plant.
• Cleared Brandy Singleton’s Dog Violation.
• Gave a week’s notice to Kyle Fritz to remove his dog from his apartment premises. The board announced that the landlord was not interested in having an enclosure set up.
jonathan@news-banner.com
