By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
The local board overseeing the creation of a justice center for Barren County tabled the one true action item that was on its agenda for a special-called meeting Thursday, after some of its members voiced that they needed more information to be convinced the action was necessary.
At the Oct. 30 meeting of the project development board, the group learned that the Glasgow Water Co. requested replacement of a portion of a main sewer line on the property because it’s made of clay, old, and only a few feet deep, so the concern is that it could be damaged by heavy equipment during construction.
Circuit Judge John T. Alexander, vice chair of the PDB, said at that time that because this would be an improvement to their line, he thought it would be fair to ask the GWC to cover part of the expense or contribute materials.
“We don’t want to delay our project, but, at least as importantly, we don’t want to cause some kind of disruption of service to everybody that lives downstream,” he said then. “So we’re all trying to do the right thing, and I think we’ll get there. It’s just a question of – I’d like to see if we can share the responsibility of it a little bit, at least give that a try.”
A plan was to be formed for GWC to be approached with that idea; meanwhile, some additional paperwork to get this done was being prepared for review.
That paperwork – a change to the agreement for the preconstruction work that started in late October to allow replacement of this sewer line – is what was presented to the PDB on Thursday morning.
The total cost on the change order paperwork was $53,800.
The portion of sewer line in question starts at a manhole on West Water Street, west of the current Ford Drive and in the vicinity of where a future relocated Ford Drive will intersect. The line goes north (toward West Front Street) for a bit to another manhole; then it turns and goes eastward to a manhole at just the other side of that block of Ford Drive. From there, it goes southeast back to another manhole on West Water that was behind the former Glasgow Glass Co. building that has been demolished, along with the Dollar General Store that was in front of it in the 300 block of West Main Street, to make way for the justice center.
So, the area in question is not where any structures would be built, but part of the parking lot and stormwater management features are planned for the vicinity, and heavy vehicles and machinery may be crossing over it in the construction process.
Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley-Byrd, who chairs the PDB, said a meeting took place Tuesday with GWC; construction manager Tommy Gumm; Rich Alexander, the Barren County Bar Association’s representative on the PDB; and her, “and it was not presented to me at that meeting like it was presented to me at the previous PDB board meeting about this portion of the project, so it was a little bit different scenario than I think we all were told.”
She said she felt after that meeting that the change was needed more so for the benefit of the project than for the GWC.
Before a motion on the change order was made, Judge Alexander made a motion to table the vote on it until they could get a little more information.
“I’m not convinced that, at least me personally, in my role as being a steward of this money, that this is something that our project is responsible for or that it’s a necessity. I’m not saying I can’t be convinced of that. I will listen to the facts, but since I wasn’t in that meeting – this is no slight to you or Rich or Tommy, because you all were in the meeting, but since I wasn’t there – and I’m kind of like you, Judge Byrd, it seems like the goal post has moved a little bit on what the object is here, from at least my understanding, I feel like I should get more information before I would agree to pay that.”
Byrd said that was understandable.
He said he would like the head of GWC to be at that next meeting for this discussion, as well as representation from American Engineers Inc., to help them determine what needs to be done.
District Judge Gabe Pendleton seconded the motion to table the matter.
“I think we need some more time. There’s some questions that I think need to be answered before I can agree to approve this,” he said.
“That’s fine,” Byrd said. “I can support that. I mean, I don’t think it’s going to hold up the project too much to do that.”
Gumm said he wanted to discuss the “construction situation surrounding this line.”
“I would do it right now. This is the discussion moment,” Byrd said.
“So, first of all,” Gumm said, slightly clearing his throat, “I think I owe the PDB an apology for not doing this earlier, but I decided after our meeting the other day and after Dan [Peffer] and I talked to look into this in more detail.”
He said he has discovered that, in the area across West Water from where Ford Drive will be, there is a possible conflict with the existing sewer line.
“Our subgrade elevation, as it crosses the sewer line at that point, is 20 inches above that clay pipe, which, during construction, could create a situation with that particular area of the pipe,” Gumm said.
He said he wants to speak with Glass Construction folks about ways of just reinforcing a portion of the pipe to make it safe for construction. Once construction is completed with asphalt over this area, he said, at that point, there would be roughly a 44-inch covering over the pipe.
“In viewing the location of existing pipe in other areas, I do not believe that we’re getting very close to the pipe, … if all of the existing information as far as the top to the manholes and the inverts are correct. It might be worth rechecking before we go ahead, but there is one manhole where we would have to raise the top of that manhole a foot and a half to meet our new existing grades.”
Having said that, he added that he believes they should try to get some additional findings and report back to the board with them.
Judge Alexander said that would be fair.
“I’m not trying to hide the ball on my opinion about any of this at all. I mean, I kind of work in the evidence-based business, so if somebody can prove to us that this …,” he said, trailing off. “What this seems like to me is that – if the idea is that we are going to spend $60,000 to replace some pipes to make sure that we don’t damage them in the process of driving trucks and heavy equipment over them – then it seems like to me what the board is being asked to do is insure the contractors and subcontractors of the project and then, at the end of the day, the water company has received a free upgrade on all these pipes, and I don’t think that’s our job as the PDB. If somebody can convince me that I’m reading all of that wrong, I will be happy to change my opinion on it, but that’s my opinion right now.”
Pendleton said that if the Dec. 11 meeting becomes more of an in-person meeting and the ones Judge Alexander are present to discuss their positions and answer questions, then the board could probably make a decision. And he reiterated that he needed more information to feel like he was doing what he’s supposed to and spending the money for the project as it’s intended.
Judge Alexander said, for example, that he would want the water company to help him understand why it’s important to dig up the line and replace it rather than just reinforcing it somehow.
Byrd asked Gumm to come up with some estimated costs on the reinforcement option by Dec. 11.
She said, no one was trying to “do anything,” and she said it was nothing against the water company, but it was just a little different from what they were told earlier.
She again did not elaborate, though, on exactly what or how anything was different.
“We’re not accusing anybody of anything,” Judge Alexander said. “The problem is that I just feel like we all need information.”
He said he could admit that he may not be able to imagine a scenario that’s at play, but the one that was in his mind was not something he could agree with.
“If they can come in here and explain to me that I just haven’t seen what I need to be seeing, I’ll be happy to change my mind,” he said.
Byrd said she thought it would be best to have them at the meeting.
With all six members present Thursday either in person or via Zoom, the vote was unanimous to table the matter until the next regular meeting, which is Dec. 11, because the one on Nov. 27 has been canceled.
Amid the documentation for the change order was a summary page for a $49,688 bid from Precision Utilities LLC in Bowling Green to do that work. That cost included four manholes, crushed stone and other related materials, fuel, disposal of existing manholes, pumping to temporarily bypass the line while work is being done, labor and mobilization. That bid analysis also lists 440 linear feet of 8-inch pipe to be supplied by GWC at no cost.
Larry Glass Construction Co., which has been hired to do the preconstruction work – site preparation, including stormwater management features – submitted a request for a change order with Precision’s bid amount. To that, the cost of bonding and a 7 percent construction management fee was added, for the total change order amount of $53,800.67.
Joe Watson, GWC’s general manager, responded to a request from Glasgow News 1 for a rough cost estimate for the pipe. He said it was around $6,700.
Gumm told GN1 that other preconstruction work can still be done on other portions of the site while this matter is being resolved.
The board’s meetings always can be attended in person, but the meetings on the second Wednesdays of the month have typically been primarily via Zoom with the option to attend in person in Alexander’s courtroom on Floor 2 of the Barren County Courthouse. The meetings on the last Wednesdays of the month are primarily in person, in the Fiscal Court Chambers on the third floor of the Barren County Government Center, with the option of attending via Zoom.
To emphasize that in-person attendance is desired for Dec. 11, Rich Alexander moved to “convert” that meeting to in-person, while still retaining the Zoom option for some, and that motion was unanimously approved.
Earlier, the only other business for this special-called meeting – approving the minutes from the prior meeting – was done with one relatively minor amendment.
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