Syracuse Gets Update On Water System Upgrade
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By John DeGroff-
The project has been ongoing for some time. The council was presented with two separate change orders that impact the budget for the project.[[In-content Ad]]The first item discussed was payment to Caldwell Tanks of Louisville, Ky., for the logo on the water tower. Originally, $50,000 had been budgeted for this, but the final cost came in at $11,200.
The other change order involved several items that contractors encountered during work on the water system. One of the biggest problems was that the water main itself was not always located where it was thought to be. This caused several instances where streets had to be torn up without any work on the water system being done. Work such as this, plus other unexpected details, pushed the cost of additional expenses to $114,208.71.
While the council did approve both change orders, several members expressed concern with the fact that council had not been notified until now about the additional cost.
"I'm not at all upset about the way the work happened," said council member Brian Woody. "I'm just more disappointed that we're talking about $114,000, and nobody contacted us. If we'd have just gotten a call saying '...hey, we're looking at a $43,000 increase because the system won't operate without a test valve...', that would have made a difference."
"I don't know if this was just a one-time situation," said Paul Stoelting, councilman. "In the future, I would suggest that we hear monthly about these projects."
"I do want to mention that the contractors have been fantastic to work with," said Woody. "They've been on schedule and under budget. That's fantastic."
Josh Wheeler of Wightman Petrie, contractors for the project, told the council that even with the $114,000 increase, the work was still brought in under budget.
"On a project of this size, that's a rare thing to have happen," he said.
Town Manager Henry DeJulia addressed the council about concerns regarding the levy during recent flooding.
DeJulia presented photos of a section of the levy that was sandbagged where muskrats had tunneled through.
"We were worried when all the snow melted and when we had all the rain," he said. "Since then, we've had a contractor working on it. It's been built up, and we're planning and having more work done."
DeJulia went on to say that state and federal officials and the Department of Natural Resources have been made aware of the situation. It's unclear if funding for levy repairs and upgrades can be made available through the DNR, but applying for a grant has been considered.
But because of the flooding in several parts of the state, the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be able to bring some money into Indiana for flood relief. That also is still uncertain at this time.
The Lakeside Drive bridge replacement project was awarded to Primco Inc. of Fort Wayne. The bridge was officially closed at the channel Jan. 9. A temporary bypass for the sanitary sewer main that crosses the bridge had to be constructed. All of this work will keep the channel closed until mid-March. Although this bridge is the property of the town, the construction project has been organized and funded through the Kosciusko County Highway Department.
DeJulia asked the council to enter into a contract with Housing Opportunities of Warsaw so that proposed home renovations could proceed. This was a legislative matter that needed to be finalized before the project could proceed. The council granted approval.
Town Marshal Tony Ciriello addressed the council regarding several police matters.
During the previous month, Syracuse police answered 313 calls, which included shutting down a meth lab located in an apartment on the corner of Oak and Boston Streets.
"We made a dent that night," Ciriello said. "Fortunately, the apartments on either side of the one with the meth lab were empty."
This was around Christmas time, and resulted eventually in six arrests.
Ciriello then asked the council for permission to purchase a computer modular card that would make the police department's phone system compatible with the county system.
Since the county already has its system in place in the assessor's office, the police department only needs the computer card. With the move to using county dispatch for all police communications, a compatibility problem has arisen between the local and county phone systems, causing more expense and inconvenience on the Syracuse end, he said. Cost for this, plus installation, is $4,217.96.
Ciriello also requested an additional $352.98 for a battery backup system that can provide up to 12 hours of power in an emergency situation. This would provide enough power to keep police communications functioning. Both requests were granted.
The council approved the payment of claims for January in the amount of $360,588.63.
Syracuse Town Council members are Stoelting, Woody, Bill Musser, Larry Siegel and Cassie Cowan.
The project has been ongoing for some time. The council was presented with two separate change orders that impact the budget for the project.[[In-content Ad]]The first item discussed was payment to Caldwell Tanks of Louisville, Ky., for the logo on the water tower. Originally, $50,000 had been budgeted for this, but the final cost came in at $11,200.
The other change order involved several items that contractors encountered during work on the water system. One of the biggest problems was that the water main itself was not always located where it was thought to be. This caused several instances where streets had to be torn up without any work on the water system being done. Work such as this, plus other unexpected details, pushed the cost of additional expenses to $114,208.71.
While the council did approve both change orders, several members expressed concern with the fact that council had not been notified until now about the additional cost.
"I'm not at all upset about the way the work happened," said council member Brian Woody. "I'm just more disappointed that we're talking about $114,000, and nobody contacted us. If we'd have just gotten a call saying '...hey, we're looking at a $43,000 increase because the system won't operate without a test valve...', that would have made a difference."
"I don't know if this was just a one-time situation," said Paul Stoelting, councilman. "In the future, I would suggest that we hear monthly about these projects."
"I do want to mention that the contractors have been fantastic to work with," said Woody. "They've been on schedule and under budget. That's fantastic."
Josh Wheeler of Wightman Petrie, contractors for the project, told the council that even with the $114,000 increase, the work was still brought in under budget.
"On a project of this size, that's a rare thing to have happen," he said.
Town Manager Henry DeJulia addressed the council about concerns regarding the levy during recent flooding.
DeJulia presented photos of a section of the levy that was sandbagged where muskrats had tunneled through.
"We were worried when all the snow melted and when we had all the rain," he said. "Since then, we've had a contractor working on it. It's been built up, and we're planning and having more work done."
DeJulia went on to say that state and federal officials and the Department of Natural Resources have been made aware of the situation. It's unclear if funding for levy repairs and upgrades can be made available through the DNR, but applying for a grant has been considered.
But because of the flooding in several parts of the state, the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be able to bring some money into Indiana for flood relief. That also is still uncertain at this time.
The Lakeside Drive bridge replacement project was awarded to Primco Inc. of Fort Wayne. The bridge was officially closed at the channel Jan. 9. A temporary bypass for the sanitary sewer main that crosses the bridge had to be constructed. All of this work will keep the channel closed until mid-March. Although this bridge is the property of the town, the construction project has been organized and funded through the Kosciusko County Highway Department.
DeJulia asked the council to enter into a contract with Housing Opportunities of Warsaw so that proposed home renovations could proceed. This was a legislative matter that needed to be finalized before the project could proceed. The council granted approval.
Town Marshal Tony Ciriello addressed the council regarding several police matters.
During the previous month, Syracuse police answered 313 calls, which included shutting down a meth lab located in an apartment on the corner of Oak and Boston Streets.
"We made a dent that night," Ciriello said. "Fortunately, the apartments on either side of the one with the meth lab were empty."
This was around Christmas time, and resulted eventually in six arrests.
Ciriello then asked the council for permission to purchase a computer modular card that would make the police department's phone system compatible with the county system.
Since the county already has its system in place in the assessor's office, the police department only needs the computer card. With the move to using county dispatch for all police communications, a compatibility problem has arisen between the local and county phone systems, causing more expense and inconvenience on the Syracuse end, he said. Cost for this, plus installation, is $4,217.96.
Ciriello also requested an additional $352.98 for a battery backup system that can provide up to 12 hours of power in an emergency situation. This would provide enough power to keep police communications functioning. Both requests were granted.
The council approved the payment of claims for January in the amount of $360,588.63.
Syracuse Town Council members are Stoelting, Woody, Bill Musser, Larry Siegel and Cassie Cowan.
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