Work to begin when weather gets warmer
By Bert Lehman
After considering legal action against the original contractor, and then considering hiring a different contractor to fix a water leakage problem to a portion of the Ninth Street sidewalk, the city has decided to do the work itself.
Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland told the Clintonville Streets Committee at its Oct. 4 meeting that the city obtained a quote from a contractor who said he could remove the old caulk and install new caulk.
The contractor had previously told Sue Aschliman, owner of the building next to the Ninth Street sidewalk where it is leaking water, that his company does that type of work.
“We were actually going to move forward with having him do the caulking, and then we were doing some research and found out that it probably wasn’t in the city’s best interest to utilize this contractor for a number of reasons,” Eveland said. “I will say that had we been considering [the contractor] for a [Community Development Block Grant] project, we would not have been allowed to utilize this one [contractor].”
Eveland told the committee she did not want to share the details as to why it would not be in the city’s best interest to use the contractor.
After not accepting the bid of the contractor, Eveland told the committee she asked Clintonville Public Works Director Kray Brown to contact other contractors for bids.
Brown told the committee he contacted five different companies, and all five declined to take on the project.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do with this,” Brown told the committee.
He added that he knows what material was going to be used by the contractor that the city obtained a quote from, and the city could purchase that material and try to do the caulking itself.
Because of the cold weather, Brown said the caulking project was not a priority.
“I think we need it to get warm so it actually works well,” Brown said.
Committee member Jim Supanich said he was concerned that more cracks would develop as more water penetrates the area.
Supanich recommended the city purchase the caulking material and do the project if the temperature gets warm enough.
Eveland agreed.
Jeff Hoffman file photo
Aschliman told the committee that the contractor that submitted the bid recently had a job fall through, so he was available to take on the Ninth Street sidewalk project if the city decided to move forward.
At that point, Supanich said he had two problems with the quote the contractor submitted. First, the quote was not signed. Second, the contractor wanted half of the $3,000 estimated cost to be paid before work would begin on the project.
Supanich once again recommended the city obtain the caulk material and try to do the project when the weather allows.
Even though Eveland had agreed with that, she stated, “My concern is to make sure that that’s still going to be sufficient.”
The city has an agreement with Aschliman that once the caulking project is completed, the city will have no more liability regarding water leaking in the Ninth Street sidewalk area.
Brown was directed to purchase the caulking material and do the project when weather permits.
The vaulted sidewalk on Ninth Street was repaired last summer.