Water spilling out of a water main after the saddle corroded away.
A catalog photo of a new saddle.
The copper pipe that was supposed to bring water into the home and the saddle remains. "I don't know how they were getting water into their home, but they were," Bartlett told the Water and Sewer Board.
Leak found in residential area
The Saratoga Carbon County Impact Joints Powers Board (Water and Sewer) is still uneasy about paying the $182,000 retainage to Reiman Corporation three years after the meter replacement took place.
Ken Schwerdt, an engineer with PMPC, said he and Paul McCarthy reviewed the contract and cannot find a reason to not pay the retainage.
Richard Raymer, a member of the Water and Sewer Board, said his biggest concern is that there has not been a 24-hour period that the system has been fully functional.
Schwerdt said he understood Raymer's concerns, but that the contract is several years beyond the warranty period and that according to the contract Reiman Corporation has done everything they were required to do.
Schwerdt said because there is a procurement contract and an installation contract, it "muddies the waters". "If it was one whole contract, it would be different situation," Schwerdt said.
Because of improper installation, town engineer Chuck Bartlett said the town has had to repair more than 70 meter pits at a cost of $2,000 to $3,000 per repair.
The Water and Sewer Board has asked for the town attorney's recommendation, but has not received one yet.
The board voted to not pay the retainage until they have heard the attorney's recommendation.
Water and Sewer
Replacement Project
The board also voted to send a letter to Simon Contractors about the 2011 Water and Sewer Replacement Contract.
Schwerdt reported the contractor has not returned his calls. Raymer said that the Water and Sewer Board needs to "send a message". If Simon Contractors does not respond by April 6, the town will use the retainage to hire another company to finish the project.
Raymer said that the contractor has one final job left to finish on the project. The town allowed the contractor to put it off until the spring.
With a million dollar project coming up for bid soon, Raymer said he wants to make sure this project is finished before the contractor bids on another project.
The Water and Sewer Board is holding a $10,000 retainage on the main replacement project.
Leak in Brandeen
subdivision
Chuck Bartlett reported that a residential home had a water leak in the Brandeen subdivision.
The remains of the pipe that were replaced was sitting on the board's table. Corrosion had worn part of the copper tubing away and disintegrated the bronze saddle on the water main.
"This is the beginning of problems in that area," Bartlett said.
The soil on the hill at the Brandeen subdivision reacts with metals in a different way, Bartlett said.
In other business, the board approved the signature for chairman Don Price to sign the State Land and Investments Board for the $353,100 grant agreement for the effluent line.
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