Council hears update regarding well water project

A snafu with the water well project has caused a handful of issues for the Town of Winamac.
Winamac Town Council members were updated on the project and just what changes have been made to it during a regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 11.
Mark Sullivan, from Midwestern Engineers, updated the council on the well project and the change orders that are now required.
The project has changed because of a problem with the drilling of one of the wells. It appears that the company, Peerless, that drilled the well did it incorrectly. A new well had to be drilled and the well house had to be moved.
Kevin Madison, from KDM Services that is the contracted company to build the well houses, said he didn’t have an agreement with Peerless but it was through the engineers. He said the problems with the drilling of the well were on that company not on him. Because of the drilling issue, the project was delayed.
Sullivan told the council that Peerless has agreed to pay for fixing the problem.
Madison questioned why retainage will be held on the money from Peerless. Sullivan explained that when dealing with grant funding that a retainage is held.
Madison explained that the money is not coming from the grant but from Peerless.
After some discussion by the council, a motion was approved to pay Madison in full when the payment from Peerless is received as long as a retainage is not to be held because of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant requirements.
There were also changes made to the elevation of the well houses. The buildings were raised because of ponding and flooding that is occurring in the field.
That change, along with moving the house because of a new well location, required additional piping and a change to piping that was already set. The additional cost was for $3,620.
Along with the elevation of the building and the new well, there is additional cleanup that will have to be done in the field creating additional costs. Sullivan said there are options to the cleanup and some of those options can be done after the main project is completed. He wanted to make the council aware of the situation. It was estimated to cost about $4,000.
The cost changes to the project were approved. Councilman Dave Schambers abstained from the vote.