December 23, 2022 |
Drivers in Saratoga may have to put up with orange warning barrels and road construction signs—with no sign of actual work—throughout the winter.
Saratoga officials say they are disappointed by the lack of work by the contractor they hired to do the water pipeline and road paving project on Spring Avenue this year. Work has come to an end construction crews have left town for the duration of winter.
During Tuesday’s Saratoga Town Council meeting, Councilman Jon Nelson said the Impact Joint Powers Board received complaints from townspeople about the condition of the road surface along West Spring Avenue.
Pictured above: Spring Avenue bore pit. Photo by Bigfoot 99.
Lewis and Lewis of Rock Springs was hired by to replace aging water pipes under Spring Avenue. After the old pipes were replaced, the contractor was to the streets. The job was contracted to be completed by October 31st. Multiple setbacks and delays resulted in the job not being finished on time. Not all the pipes were placed. None of the streets have been repaved.
Representatives from Lewis and Lewis asked the town council to allow them to leave for the winter without incurring daily fines, called liquidated damages. Built into the agreement, LD’s are a financial penalty assessed for every day past the contracted completion date. Lewis and Lewis missed both their substantial completion date of October 15th and final completion on the 31st. Liquidated Damages of $1,000 a day began on the 15th and increased by $750 daily when the project wasn’t finished by Halloween. A signed letter of intent presented to the contractor stated that LD’s would not stop even if weather caused the job to go over the allowed time.
The contractors presented the town with several options for how they could handle the winter shutdown. If the town altered their agreement to allow the contractors to leave without being charged LD’s for the winter, Lewis and Lewis promised to open the unpaved streets and make them passable by laying crushed asphalt. If the town chose to hold them to the contract, Lewis and Lewis said they would leave the roads closed to prevent a buildup of underground frost. The frozen ground would delay the contractors even more when they returned to complete the project in the spring.
At the December 6th town council meeting, the sitting council, taking advice from the Impact Joint Powers Board and incoming council members, chose not to amend the contract. With LD’s being charged all winter, Lewis and Lewis packed up and left for the season. The contractors said they would have an employee periodically check on the unfinished roads to make sure local traffic could still pass.
Councilman Nelson said the Joint Powers Board felt Lewis and Lewis was not holding up their end of the contract. He asked Mayor Creed James to sign a letter addressed to the contractors asking them to take better care of the roads.
Councilman Nelson said the Impact JPB contacted Josh Morris, from T-O Engineering, to draft the message to Lewis and Lewis. Mayor James read the letter at Tuesday’s town council meeting.
Under the terms of the contract, Lewis and Lewis is still responsible for maintaining the unfinished road surfaces until the project is complete. The Saratoga Town Council voted to sign the letter and send it to the contractors.
