Posted 11:48 pm Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Commissioners Vote To Pay Advanced Paving
By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer
The Smith County Commissioners Court voted Monday during its regular meeting to pay Advanced Paving for work completed and materials used through the termination of their parking lot contract at the Cotton Belt Building.
Staff Writer
The Smith County Commissioners Court voted Monday during its regular meeting to pay Advanced Paving for work completed and materials used through the termination of their parking lot contract at the Cotton Belt Building.
The county terminated its contract with Advanced Paving Dec. 22 while attempting to lower a $9,800 "change order" for crack filling.
The motion that "payment shall be based on the calculation of actual work and materials used pursuant to Section 21 of Article V of the Standard Terms and Conditions on the contract" was approved unanimously by the court. The payment, still unofficial and undisclosed, will be made by certified mail with a letter from the Legal Department explaining that it is "payment in full" for all pending projects between the county and Advanced Paving.
The full invoice for Advanced Paving was $26,500.
Road and Bridge Director Doug Nicholson produced the estimate for work and materials for the court based on Advanced Paving's itemized invoice in the amount of approximately $20,000.
The original contract approved and terminated by the court was for $37,000 in improvements to the existing parking lot.
After work on the parking lot project began, a $7,200 change order was approved by the court. Multiple county personnel, including County Judge Joel Baker, said change orders are common during projects to cover unforeseen costs.
The change order for "crack filling" in the amount of $9,800 was disputed by the county because officials said crack filling should have been included in the original bid.
The county had previously voted to make a counter offer to Advanced Paving in the amount of $4,400.
Brett Johnson, owner of Advanced Paving, said the work met the bid standards and that the county's inability to produce detailed specifications during the bidding process led to the problem.
"I have talked to other contractors, and they all said they would not have done anything differently," he said. "It's not about the work that was completed. It's about the fact that they want me to do work for free."
Johnson said the county gave him general ideas of what level of work was expected of his company. He said other entities such as the City of Tyler and TISD hire exploratory committees or engineers to handle specification preparations for bidding.
The county does not or can not give direct answers regarding projects, Johnson said, and that has led to change orders and work not being up to the court's expectations.
"They could have had (the parking lot) specifications done to industry standards (by an engineer) and given me a clear cut answer to what I have to do," Johnson said.
In a previous meeting, Baker said parking lot improvements Advanced Paving produced in the past had been exceptional, but the amount paid for the work done at the Cottonbelt Building was not acceptable.
After ending contracts with Advanced Paving, commissioners voted to use the Road and Bridge Department to resurface the parking lot. The county will pay for materials and labor for that project.
Commissioners also:
Accepted securities in the amounts of $5 million and $15 million pledged by the county's depository, Southside Bank;
