OTTUMWA —
The deadline for the city to begin litigation against a Grimes company could be extended to give the contractor time to repair faulty work on an Ottumwa street six years ago.
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Ottumwa City Council will vote to approve an agreement “tolling” — or suspending — the statute of limitations regarding the commencement of litigation against Van Hauen & Associates, Inc., of Grimes, and Merchants Bonding Company to recover for unacceptable work performed by the contractor on Phase 1 of the South Ottumwa Sanitary Sewer Separation Project.
In October, the council had approved for City Attorney Joni Keith to begin litigation against Van Hauen and its bonding company, MBC, for the work done six years ago.
In a previous interview with the Courier, Keith said Van Hauen is still in business though the company is considered to be in “reduced capacity,” which is why the city would also file suit against their bonding company.
Approximately 59 panels of the four blocks of North Sheridan Avenue from Finley Avenue to Garfield Street have settled or cracked, which city engineers believe is due to the contractor not properly compacting the ground underneath before laying the street.
Throughout the past year, the city and its engineer on the project, Todd Penisten from Veenstra & Kimm, have been negotiating with Van Hauen to repair the panels.
“Where we found a lack of effort was in compaction along the side of those boxes,” said Public Works Director Larry Seals at an October council meeting, though he said the sewer lines underneath the road have not been affected. “There are two guarantees with concrete: It’ll get hard and it’ll crack. Compaction is probably the biggest issue we have in any construction project.”
The city has given notice of a claim under the contractor’s performance bond with MBC requesting that they hire a separate contractor to remove and replace the pavement, with those costs as well as the costs for the subgrade testing to be covered by the maintenance bond.
The statute of limitations on the claim is Dec. 20, but the proposed agreement extends the statute of limitations until Nov. 30, 2013 to give the contractor time to make the repairs necessary.
It is believed that a separate agreement between the parties can be negotiated that will ensure the necessary repairs without the necessity of litigation.
Van Hauen has said a design defect led to the problem, not any work of their own.
CDBG grant could rehabilitate houses
Meanwhile, 10 homes on Ottumwa’s south side could be rehabilitated if the city receives a $380,000 grant.
A public hearing will be held for the 2013 Community Development Block Housing Sustainability Grant application.
The project would involve the rehabilitation of 10 houses on the south side of Ottumwa bounded by Richmond Avenue on the north, Ferry Street and contiguous properties on the east, Chester Avenue and contiguous properties on the south and Kettle Creek on the west, an area that contains more than 200 houses.
City planner Nick Klimek said the city has applied for the grant in the past, with the last program in 2007.
“It’s an owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program,” Klimek said. “It’s in a targeted district and it’s awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.”
The grant would require a local match of $25,000. It’s typically awarded in April, he said, and the contract would be set in May.
“We’re doing something sort of interesting with this project to make the grant application as competitive as possible,” he said. “We’re doing targeted mailing in the proposed district.”
The mailing will request that people who are interested and may qualify for the program “pre-apply.”
“That way when we show this to the state, we can say we have 15 people that are ready to go if we’re awarded,” Klimek said.
The council will also:
• Hold a public hearing for the Hamilton Street Sewer Separation Project, which calls for sewer separation and construction of a new storm sewer system in the 1000 block of Hamilton Street to Finley Avenue. The estimated cost is $160,000, which will be funded through local option sales tax. Construction is slated to start in the spring.
• Approve the Ottumwa Water Works Board of Trustees budget for 2013.
The council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers at City Hall. The meeting will air live on GO-TV, cable channel 6.
Local News
December 1, 2012
Deadline for litigation against contractor to be extended
Housing grant could rehab 10 homes on city’s south side
- Local News
-
-
Reviving downtown's upper stories
Building by building, the upper stories of downtown Ottumwa are coming back to life after some have sat empty for half a century.
- Expanding Ottumwa's trail system OTTUMWA — The Market Street Bridge is a major link in connecting Ottumwa's north side to its south side. The seventh annual Wapello County Trails Council mediathon kicked off Saturday morning with volunteers on the phones taking pledges from the comm
-
Storms forecast to return later Monday
OTTUMWA -- The first severe weather outbreak of the year didn't do as much damage to southeast Iowa as in other areas, but it's likely on to round two today.
-
Searching for the perfect book
A steady stream of people snatched up books, magazines, DVDs and more at the annual Pages for Pennies book sale at Bridge View Center this weekend.
-
Staff eager for swimmers Beach Ottumwa improvements
OTTUMWA — When kids talk about the last weeks of school, one subject that often comes up is The Beach Ottumwa. It'll be ready soon, said employees. On Friday, the maintenance staff was installing the fountain heads that shoot water straight up at the
- Mixed reactions to tax reduction OTTUMWA — During past public forums in Ottumwa, Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, told voters the state should follow its own laws and make taxes equal across the board. This week, legislators in Des Moines took a first step toward that goal, which is a
-
New sports store coming to mall
OTTUMWA — A new tenant is coming to Quincy Place Mall. Lexington Realty International announced Friday afternoon the mall's newest tenant, MC Sports. Construction has already begun, and the store is anticipated to open just in time for back-to-school
-
Ottumwa teen earns criminal justice scholarship
OTTUMWA — A high school senior who shares the work ethic and spunk of the late Lisa Caldwell has been awarded a scholarship in her honor. Ottumwan Hunter Varner, a senior at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont High School, earned the first Wapello County Sh
- Budget shift on county agenda OTTUMWA — There's nothing like having some money in the budget to cover a project that doesn't have enough money on its line item. The Wapello County Supervisors will need to move some money to an item that has spent all of its funding, according to
- Wellness challenge asks people to live healthy OTTUMWA — Are you ready for the Live Healthy Iowa 10-Week Wellness Challenge? Some of the city employees joined Live Healthy Iowa, and Jody Gates, the city's health director, was captain of one of the two teams of about a dozen people. "Our goals for
- More Local News Headlines
-
