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A matter that has been discussed off and on for nearly a year was finally put to rest by the Ossian Town Council Wednesday night.
Having moved their second monthly meeting from Monday to Wednesday in order to have a quorum, the four council members present Wednesday night agreed by consensus to not provide a view block between the houses on Woodcreek Dr. and the new sewage plant construction.
Residents of three homes that have a full backyard view of the new part of the plant requested the block and the council agreed to look at the matter in order to be a good neighbor.
But after comparing the prices of a six-foot chainlink fence, as originally specified in the plant’s design, and a 12-foot chainlink fence with plastic slats, the council agreed that the 12-foot fence’s extra price of $14,253 was not worth it because it will still not provide a total view block between the homes and the plant. There’s just too much there to be blocked, the council agreed.
Engineer Jim Lauer of Schnelker Inc. stressed again a point he has been making all along—that the people who bought those three homes knew that they fronted a lot that could potentially become part of the sewage plant one day, and because of that, they got a break on the price of their houses.
“We said we’d look at it and we did,” said council president Brian Lang of the view block issue. “Let’s move on,” he added.
Wednesday night’s meeting turned out to be dominated by sewage plant issues, although that wasn’t the way the agenda was set up.
Council members learned that the plant, according to contractor Mark Hall of Thieneman Construction, is substantially complete.
But Lauer pointed out there were still many things to be done, including, but not limited to, electrical projects.
Hall sought the release of $100,000 of the $157,000 the town is still holding in retainage for the project. Retainage is up to five percent of a contract that the town withholds from paying to the contractor to make sure the job is being done right.
Hall said materials suppliers for the project are pressing for their money, which Thieneman is withholding because the town is withholding Thieneman’s retainage.
Councilman Dick Witte pointed out there were proper channels that Thieneman has to go through to get the retainage released and one of those is for Thieneman to work with Schnelker on the claims process.
Probably the major contentious issue of the night came up when Hall and Lauer brought before the council a change order Thieneman was seeking for the foundation for the steel building over the solid storage and sludge drying beds.
Schnelker had specified a particular design, but Hall pointed out that the engineers stated in the specifications that the design for the foundation was for bidding purposes only.
Hall said when Thieneman picked Nucor Steel to supply the building, Nucor’s engineers specified a foundation that was way larger than that specified by Schnelker. Instead of the two foot by two foot by 11 foot deep foundation in the original plans, Nucor stated that, to keep anchored to the ground, the type of open sided metal roof building the engineers had specified would require an eight-foot by 10-foot by 11-foot deep foundation.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw that. It’s massive,” said Lauer.
Witte, who is a builder, agreed. “I’ve got four story buildings in downtown Fort Wayne that don’t have foundations anywhere near that big.”
Hall agreed that the foundation specified by Nucor was massive, but he added that the steel building as specified was, “a sail” that could take off with a good strong wind if not properly anchored. By the very nature of its open design—which will permit the constant drying of the sludge by-product of the plant—winds will create lift on the 50-foot by 80-foot building’s steel roof.
The problem is, the new foundation change order is $14,383 more than the original amount budgeted.
Collectively the council appeared flabbergasted with Witte, Lang and councilman Brad Pursley all questioned how the project could have gotten this far along without knowledge that the building would require a different foundation than that specified.
Lauer replied that the problem lay with the way Thieneman handled the process, didn’t provide the necessary drawings to Schnelker, delayed the building until almost the very end and then finally brought it on site and said, “Here it is, now sign for it.”
Hall replied that Schnelker had provided an unrealistic foundation specification. Nucor absolutely would not warranty the building on that light of a foundation, he said.
Lauer countered that the same design has worked on other drying bed covers that Schnelker has designed for other towns.
Hall replied that was not the point. The point was Nucor would not warranty the building on that light of a foundation. He added that he doubted any other steel company would either.
The discussion exceeded an hour and at times grew contentious, especially between Lauer, Hall, and site manager for Schnelker for the project, Ron Simpson.
Although the beds are in place, since the building over them has not yet been constructed, the council directed Hall to get back with Nucor and see if there is a penalty to return the steel.
The council also directed Hall and Lauer to get together and find common ground on the dimensions of the steel and the foundation for the building.
In another sewage plant related matter, the council nixed a request by the town’s operator of the sewage plant, Darrell Reynolds, to have Thieneman install a yard hydrant near the ultraviolet treatment portion of the plant to be used in cleaning the ultraviolet light bulbs when necessary. The yard hydrant would also be used for other purposes.
The hydrant would result in a change order of either $1,100 or $1,863, depending on how it was installed.
However, because of the perceived limited use the hydrant would experience, council members agreed 4-0 that Reynolds could string a 150-foot hose out to the ultraviolet treatment area for a whole lot less than $1,100.
The council also:
—Adopted the 2007 budget. The $2,210,000 budget carries an estimated levy of $1,041,657 to be raised from property taxes based on an estimated net assessed valuation of $99 million for the town. The next step for the budget is review by the state with final rates and levies to be revealed at a later date.
—Agreed to move town manager Luann Martin off of probationary status. She was on the status for six months as part of the town’s hiring procedure. However, the council agreed Wednesday night she has done a very good job and by a 4-0 vote agreed to move her from the probationary annual pay of $41,850 to the full town manager’s salary of $46,500 annually. The council plans to meet in executive session Wednesday, Oct. 4, to give Martin a formal six-month review of her job performance.
—Signed a lease and master service agreement with ABM (Allen Business Machines) of Fort Wayne for a new copier for the town hall. The lease will be $28.41 more a month than the current lease of $141 a month.
—Discussed but took no action on a request by Wells County United Way to advertise on the town hall’s marquee. Witte pointed out that the town reserves space on the sign for town and government related entities. Angie Dial agreed that the United Way on first appearance doesn’t seem to fit the requirements, however, she suggested that Martin contact the United Way and see if they provide financial support to government-supported agencies such as the Wells County Council on Agency. Lang, Pursley and Witte agreed with Dial’s recommendation.
—Approved of moving part-time employee Trent Fiedler to full-time status with a salary of $12 an hour.
The next regular meeting of the board is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m.
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