The Town Council clearly had no patience for a request from Low Mountain Construction for more time to complete the Avenue of the Fountains improvement project without penalty.

The project is under contract to be completed by Oct. 20.

But the contractor was seeking an additional 18 days (to Nov. 7) to complete the work.

The contract calls for a 180-day schedule for completion and every day beyond that costs the contractor $710 per day.

The council did vote to give an additional two days due to weather conditions, but members were clearly unimpressed by other issues raised by the contractor.

The contractor also cited delays in SRP getting power installed, and delays from two manufacturers in getting materials delivered such was water feature parts and light fixtures.

Vice Mayor Cecil Yates noted that the delays started at the very beginning.

“You were not the low bidder,” Yates said. “You issued a challenge (to the credentials of the low bidder) and that caused a two-week delay to the start.

“Respectfully, I do not see a full crew working out there. I can see a little extension, but I have real issues.”

One issue raised by the contractor was the extra time it took to have power delivered to the site. Development Services Director Paul Mood explained that weather priorities had delayed SRP in getting crews to the site to connect the power.

“I’m not buying SRP delaying your work,” Councilman Dennis Brown said. “You can complete the project without power.

“This job has been poorly manned. I’ve had more calls about this project than I did about the trash hauling issue.

“You need to act like you want to get the job done. Roll your sleeves up and get to work.

“All I can support is one rain day.”

Perhaps what irked the council more than anything was the fact that despite appearances, the work was going slowly and residents were wondering what was going on, the contractor always responded that it was on schedule.

“We were told repeatedly that we are on schedule,” Councilman Tait Elkie said. “It is quite embarrassing to have this come before us.”

“We are all feeling embarrassed,” Mayor Linda Kavanagh said. “We kept hearing the same thing – we are on schedule.”

Mood said staff does believe that two days due to weather are legitimate.

“After this last storm there was a lot of wash out on the pavers and it took two days to get everything reset,” Mood said.

The contractor did have seven weather days built into the schedule and all were used.

As of Oct. 23, the contractor will be put on notice there will be a penalty for each additional day used. The number of days will be calculated after the work is complete.

Sod concerns

One issue related to the project that is a concern and prompted staff to recommend an extension up to 30 days is the installation of 62,000 square feet of sod on the turf areas.

The delays have pushed out the sod installation to a point where there is a gap in availability while sod farms overseed with winter ryegrass.

While it is not certain when the over-seeded sod will be ready, there are indications it might be available early November.

Wayne Hatch, project manager for the contractor, told the council he has talked with all the area sod farms and he cannot get it until the first week of November. Meanwhile, staff has concerns about installing the sod prior to the Fountain Festival of Arts and Crafts, Nov. 14, 15, 16.

In the early stages after installation the sod needs to be watered three times a day, and Mood had suggested allowing the contractor to wait until after the fair to install the sod. Otherwise they may have to shut the irrigation off four days to accommodate the fair. That would likely void the warranty for the sod.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan said he would not recommend running the irrigation during the fair. He said he does not want to end up paying for merchandise that might get ruined by water.