Politics & Government

Fair Oaks Construction: Steps to the End

More from Monday night's meeting.

Once striping is completed at the end of August, the City will then create what they call a punch list, which will include a list of problem items that the contractor, American Asphalt, must address before leaving the project.

“From Columbia to Monterey, we’ll be making sure we got exactly what we paid for per plans,” Project Manager Gabe Nevarez told Patch Tuesday.

After all items are addressed, City staff will bring the project to City Council to be deemed complete. 

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Currently, it's estimated to be 8.55 percent—or $294,000—over what the original contract stated, but this could change since some costs are still under negotiation. Included in these expenses is $64,000 towards the repair of the cracked crosswalks. 

Click on the PDF to your right to view an itemized list of expenses. 

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

City Manager John Davidson has authorization to sign off on all change orders, such as the crosswalk repairs, under 10 percent of the contracted cost. Any expenses outside the original contact will be taken from the City's general fund.

Cost of Crosswalks

Residents have continually asked: Why is the City picking up this $294,000 tab—let alone the price of crosswalks?

A 10 percent overage on projects of this scale is typical, according to City staff. And since the cause of the crosswalks was deemed inconclusive, the City and American Asphalt agreed to split the $127,000 repair cost in half to avoid potentially assuming liability for the entire expense. 

"It was in the best interest—we met with American Asphalt and decided to meet each other each way," Assistant City Manager Sergio Gonzalez announced to the group Monday. 

The Original Design

City staff at Monday's meeting also addressed design concerns: Who created the Fair Oaks design, and why does Public Works Director Matt Sweeney's (who resigned in April) signature appear on them? 

Originally designed by AZTEC Engineers in 2000, the City says plans and specifications of the Fair Oaks project were modified as needed and stamped by the City after contractual disagreements and a lawsuit with AZTEC in 2008.  

DMR Team, who had already been hired by the City to oversee engineering, was then asked in 2010 to modify AZTEC's bid documents to incorporate cost saving modifications previously identified in a value engineering study, according to the City. 

"DMR has been providing services to the City on this project free of charge for quite some time now," said Assistant City Manager Sergio Gonzalez. "Their services have exceeded the contracted amount by about $40,000."

Whose Responsible?

Sam Talebian of DMR Team defended his firm's work Monday night. 

"The original design by AZTEC Engineers showed a concrete overlay," said Talebian of the crosswalks. 

"As far as responsibility as a construction manager, we are required to implement what the City has paid for in a period of 10 years ... they provide us with a set of documents, and its my responsibility to implement the set of documents."

"Is AZTEC still your engineer of record? No," continued Talebian.  

Retired contractor and South Pas resident Matt Pendo, believes the City would have ended up paying for the entire cost of the crosswalks if litigated in court. 

"I think that what was done by the contractor was done according to the plans, so that leads me to believe the contractor is totally not liable," said Pendo. 

"If American Asphalt deviated from the plans, thats a horse of another color," he continued. 

Next week, we'll be addressing the question: Where do we go from here?

Here's some past coverage of Monday night's meeting:

 


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