WINNSBORO (Aug. 11, 2016) – County Administrator Jason Taylor informed the Administration and Finance Committee last month of significant problems with a contract signed recently with Ken Simmons and Associates for two county projects – the EMS stations at Jenkinsville and Ridgeway.
On Monday evening, Council voted 6-0 to rectify the problems and asked County attorney Jack James to write a letter notifying Ken Simmons and Associates that the company will be held responsible for any cost overages relating to the problems.
“We have three issues,” Taylor told Council members. “The first has to do with a change order the County requested for $45,984 to change out the asphalt for concrete on the apron in the front and back of each fire station.”
Taylor said the change is necessary because of the way the tires of the heavy fire trucks turn coming in and out of the driveway of the stations.
“The asphalt would have had a life span of about 10 years while concrete will have about a 25-year life,” Taylor explained.
“Second, there was a discrepancy between how the engineer designed the project and how it was bid out,” Taylor told Council. “The engineer designed the project with a certain amount of asphalt, but he bid it out for a lesser amount of asphalt. The cost difference between what was designed and what was bid is approximately $39,000. The Committee recommends that Ken Simmons and Associates be responsible for covering that overage.”
Third, Taylor told the Committee last month, the engineer delayed requesting S.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) encroachment permits for the project, and that delay caused the project to be shut down by the DOT.
Taylor said the County had been told by the engineer that all encroachment permits needed from DOT had been applied for (by Ken Simmons and Associates) and that the permits would be issued that week.
“But we verified with S.C. DOT that the applications for the permits had not even been submitted and that there could be a delay of up to 30 days, which could be costly to the County,” Taylor said. “I am proposing to have our attorney send a letter to Ken Simmons and Associates saying, ‘If there is any cost associated with these delays, we expect you to cover them.’”
