Business loop work dispute may end up in arbitration

Talk about it

A dispute between the city of Jamestown and the contractors responsible for the Business Loop East project may be headed for arbitration. The discussion occurred during the regular meeting of the Jamestown Public Works Committee Thursday.

“The dispute is on what is still owed to Sellin Brothers Construction,” said Reed Schwartzkopf, city engineer. “Sellin Brothers has rejected all city offers.”

Schwartzkopf and Steve Windish, project engineer for Ulteig Engineering estimated the two sides were about $100,000 apart. At issue is who pays for work done after a city sewer line was struck by equipment, a temporary pavement patch used to allow traffic during construction at an intersection and the number of days the project took beyond its deadline.

“Everytime we propose something, they counter-propose and then offer more counter-proposals,” Schwartzkopf said. “We are not sure where we are with them but don’t believe it’s progressing.”

The City Council directed Schwartzkopf to send a letter reiterating the last offer the city made and then move to binding arbitration if it is not accepted.

Binding arbitration by a three-person panel is required by the construction contract.

“We have made some allowances,” Schwartzkopf said. “We believe we’ve made a good-faith effort to negotiate.”

The Public Works Committee also rejected the lone bid received for two storage buildings for the city street and sanitation departments. The engineer’s estimates for the two buildings had totaled about $200,000 but the bid was about $300,000.

The city had received four bids but three did not include the required contractor’s license.

“A lot of the bids come from out of state,” said Ken Dalsted, city attorney. “Mostly they are from out-of-state bidders without the proper documentation.”

In other action, the Jamestown Police Committee approved a project to design a new uniform insignia patch for the Jamestown Police Department.

“The current generic patch has been around a long time,” said Scott Edinger, Jamestown police chief. “The idea is to give the high school art class an opportunity to design the new patch.”

Edinger said the new patches would be added to new uniforms as they are purchased over the next two years.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452

or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com

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