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a change order in the contract that would enable them to re- surface
the entire street instead of merely patching. He stated further
that when the engineer called his attention to the unsatisfactory
paving, the work was immediately stopped and the paving contractor
was told that no more paving work was to be performed until the
testing laboratory had made a compaction test of the subgrade
base and approved same. Mr. Mason stated further that he admitted
some of the paving was rough - but not all of it. He assured
the Mayor and Council that all inferior paving and bad workmanship
would be corrected before the paving contractor is turned loose.
Mr. Mason also informed the Mayor that the pumping stations were
not pumping up to specifications they are supposed to be up to and
they could not get the sewer work accepted the way these pumping
stations were performing. He said they were attempting to operate
these stations themselves but this could delay the project.
Mayor Counihan then took up the problems encountered with the
apparent poor workmanship of stubbing the laterals from the various
homes into the newly completed sewer line. He stated the principal
complaint he had received was that in many instances, 6" laterals
coming from the homes was reduced to a 4" line at the point of tie -
in. He stated further that in checking the specifications he found
that they called for a 6" line all the way into the new line.
Mr. Warren Bell explained that the reason the stub was made in
this manner was because it was necessary for the Contractor to work
under those particular laterals to lay the force main he was laying
along these, that it was temporary and as soon as it could be done,
was replaced with the proper size pipe. In answer to a question
from the Mayor, Mr. Bell stated that he could not definately
say that there were not similar connections made elsewhere in
the City because he could not possibly be at all the locations at
one time and see everything that was going on. Mr. Bell stated
that he could not answer this question for the Contractor. The
Mayor then asked the Contractor if he was aware of the existence of
cases where a stub hadbeen made with a 6" line running into a
4" line and covered up. Mr. Mason replied that he thought all the
laterals were 4" lines. Mr. Solomon, the City Plumbing Inspector
replied that he knew most of the laterals on Chatham Avenue were
6" cast iron lines necuase he personally installed most of them
himself. Mr. Solomon said that all of these had been reduced to
a. 4" line. The Mayor then called upon Mr. George for an explanation
of this.
Mr. George answered by saying that in the specifications
of the proposal they (Thomas and Hutton) called for 4" laterals
but upon finding out that was an omission they put out a change
order allowing quantities and prices to be used for 6" laterals.
He added that he did not know of a specific instance where they
put in a four inch, where there was a larger size. in answer to a
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question from the Mayor as to whether or not there were any of the
connections, as referred to by Mr. Solomon, in existence here
at the present time, Mr. Bell answered that there were a few
temporary connections still on Chatham Avenue that were made one
Friday afternoon when it was raining and these were put in to get
the sewerage hooked up again. Mr. Bell continued saying that
the Contractor who did this work walked off the job and they were
now in the process of trying to get someone else on this particular
job. In regard to the 4 X 6 tees that were being used, Mr. Bell
explained that this also was a temporary action done to prevent
interruptions in the service. He also stated that these temporary
connections have been logged and marked.
Mr. I. B. Griffin, one of the sub - contractors, stated that
one of the reasons his crew used the 4" pipe, and they did it daily,
he said, was because the sewage was running out of the house
while the workmen were trying to install the pipe in the ditch.
To overcome this problem, the four inch pipe was installed temporarily,
he said.
Mayor Counihan asked Mr. Griffin, of Griffin Construction
Company, how many sub- contractors they had on this job. Mr. Griffin
replied they had one sub- contractor and that was the paving contractor.
The other companies worked on a per foot, lineal foot basis. The
Mayor questioned Mr. Griffin about posting the Bacon Davis Wages
Schedule. Mr. Griffin stated it was posted in his office. Mayor
Counihan stated this schedule should be posted outside.
Mr. Tommy Griffin, Secretary of Griffin Construction Company,'
explained to the meeting that most of the temporary connections .
were made due to the fact that they were working with live sewage.
In regard to the wages being paid, he stated that they were a
non -union company and that they worked "open shop ".
Mr. Edmund Solomon, City Plumbing Inspector, stated that he
did want to make a few remarks about the project but that he did
not want anyone to them as being derogatory about any
individual or any of the companies participating in this job.
He stated that he had talked to the Resident Inspector several times
about some of the things he hac1 found wrong that he felt was in his
jurisdiction and Mr. Bell informed him that very soon a meeting
on these things would be held in City Hall and he would be notified
so that he could attend. He said that was 22 months ago and he
still had not been notified of x.v eting. Mr. Solomon said that
an example of some of the things ho was critical of was in some 'cases
he had found that there was a 6" concrete pipe coming out of the
property line with a 4" testee in it. So they cut the concrete
pipe, he said, and shoved the plastic pipe into it and cemented it..
He said the lateral to Buddy Blai:c' s house was done that way •x:.it�
is that way right now.
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Councilman Bond said he felt he could explain this. He said
when they were first confronted with the concrete pipe coming off
the cast iron, the majority of the concrete pipe was eaten up,
and a portion of this concrete pipe was on city property and
a portion on private property. He stated that he met with the
Contractors on this and the specification called for a 4" lateral
going into a 6" lateral. He stated further that he guessed that
.,the engineers thought that there was a 4" lateral coming off the
house and it turned out to be a 6" concrete lateral. He said they
came up to the property line and were going to cut the concrete
tlateral. The plans, he said, called for a 4" lateral from the
City property to the sewer line. To do this, he said it would be
necessary to put a 4" line into a 6" line. He stated further that
the plans in his possession called for this but he did not like it
,taand he turned it down. He stated further that he was not aware of
this until it was brought to his attention by Mr. Bell, When he
found out about it they then decided that they would go all the.
sway to the cast iron pipe with the new plastic pipe thereby
eliminating the old concrete pipe.
Mayor Counihan stated that on occasions, the City has assisted
r.,the contractor by diverting the sewage into open ditches for which
.... ;we have received complaints from the Health Department. He said
this practice should be immediately discontinued and. let the
Contractors provide for the by -pass as specified in the contract
agrOement.
At the request from the Mayor, the Clerk read a letter received
today from the Environmental Protection Agency in which they
'informed the Mayor that the City's request for a partial payment
on the grant had been approved in the amount of $273,857.00 and
the City should be receiving such check shortly.
The Mayor said he noticed that the City had been paying for
some. surveys for the Contractor. He asked Mr. George if this was
proper. Mr. George replied that it was the responsibility of the
City to furnish the land and /or easements and it was the respon-
sibility of the Contractor to stake it out for the acuuGL constri_c-
Lion.
Councilman Jim Bond explained that thus far apo c:xir ..
,$34,000 had been spent on house laterals; whereao, • $s..: 0O v;:
$13,000 was bid for these laterals. He explained f,hy•cile:-L by •• • -:i.;
that the number of house laterals that we : e _indicatt c:n 1. :hr
.have not come anywhere close to the house •i na-it was
done. He stated that this came about due to the fact c.. -i Mocl, :ts
and Hutton did the take off from maps dated 1,10 or 1942 w.?hi' �±
indicating the houses at the time, then lie ! timate o la c:: : f
feet to be used was taken from that for 'a'= _ ^• := = -:, �c ttt rei
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further that many new houses, not included on the plans, have been
built since that time and he figured that on account of that we
would probably wind up spending sixty or sixty -five thousand
dollars for house laterals; whereas, we had only about $12,000
allocated for this.
Mr. Bill Lucas, resident of Jones Avenue, asked if the property
owner should not pay for the concrete laterals on private property?
He also felt that after all this money is spent for a new collection
system, he hoped we had treatment facilities to handle it. He
complimented the Mayor for calling this meeting in an effort to
clear up these misunderstandings.
City Council then requested that Change Order No. 2, pertaining
to the installation of additional wet wells be installed in lieu
of attempting to modify the existing structures due to certain
hazards caused by the presence of sewer gases, be discussed. The
Change Order request was then read by the Clerk. Following a brief
discussion, Councilman Fahey moved that this Change Order No. 2
be accepted by the City. His motion was seconded by Councilman
Agnew and unanimously carried.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned
to the next regular or special called meeting.
CLERK OF COUNCIL