8/29/07 - Strip of Page Green Road flawed

County, contractor in dispute over who will pay for $500,000 reconstruction

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

A portion of the work completed on the reconstruction of Page Green Road last year will need to be redone this fall, county officials said Tuesday.

Due to issues with the quality of materials used, the portion of Page Green Road spanning from its intersection with Ely Road to its intersection with Congdon Lane, which was completed last summer, will need to be completely redone, County Highway Superintendent Don Chambers said.

“We’re seeing some pavement failure areas,” Chambers said. “The road has cracked some places and we’ve had to do repair patches on potholes that have developed.”

The quality of the materials used for the road — the asphalt and the granular subbase — don’t appear to meet specifications outlined in the county’s contract with contractor Contour Construction, Chambers said.

Contour Construction, which is based in Binghamton, has been directed to begin work on redoing that roughly 1 mile portion of road, likely by September, Chambers said.

The cost of reconstructing the road would be about $500,000 he said, but who is responsible for covering that cost is a matter of dispute.

The contractor is contesting that it is responsible for the problems, claiming the engineer for the project, O.M. Popli, is responsible for approving materials, said County Administrator Scott Schrader. Officials of O.M. Popli did not return a message left Tuesday on their answering machine.

Schrader said that the finished product meeting specifications is the responsibility of the contractor.

“The work’s going to get done regardless,” Schrader said. “The question is will it be done at an additional county cost or will it be the responsibility of the contractor.”

David Black, president of Contour Construction, was onsite on Page Green Road Tuesday, overseeing work being done further north on the road; however, he declined to comment.

Schrader said the issue could wind up in court if Contour Construction continues to refuse to pay for the additional work.

The county contracted with Contour Construction to complete Phase II of the Page Green reconstruction, which spans from just south of Saunders Road to Congdon Lane, at a cost of $3.4 million, Chambers said.

Eighty percent of the project is federally funded, 15 percent will be paid with state funds, and 5 percent of the cost will fall to the county, he said.