Water and Sewer Board refuses Reiman's offer

Members of the Town of Saratoga/Carbon County Joint Impact Powers Board (Water and Sewer) were not pleased with the $12,000 offer from Reiman Construction to help pay the retainage fee for the water meter project.

At the June 11 meeting, PMPC engineer Ken Schwerdt and Engineer for the Town of Saratoga Chuck Bartlett, said they told Reiman construction the $12,000 offer was too low, and consequently proposed an undisclosed counter offer. Scott Reiman, with Reiman Construction, was reportedly going to consider the counter offer.

“Anywhere from $12,000 to $35,000 is just totally unacceptable,” board Chairman Don Price said. Price added half of that fee is where the negotiation should start, and 10 percent is too low.

Board members were also discouraged that a representative of Reiman Construction was not at the June 11 meeting.

“Here we are a month later …” board member Richard Raymer said. “Now we are going to be another month before we get the next (offer). Are we going to stretch this out for a year?”

After discussion, Raymer added, “I don’t want to see this drag out.”

Board member Tim Lamprecht said the most important issue was insuring everyone involved has some “wiggle room” in the negotiations.

Bartlett said he and Schwerdt had a minimum offer they would accept from Reiman Construction, however, he said he would not disclose it in a public meeting.

Whatever the final numbers are, Raymer believes the water meter project is not going to end well.

“Quite obviously, everybody has some pretty big expenses in this whole deal; we are all going to walk away bloody,” Raymer said. “The more I think about it, we could make all the agreements in the world, and once this is done and over with, it’s something we still need to live with.”

The board agreed they would not be in favor of litigation at this time, and will continue to negotiate with Reiman Construction.

In other business, Bartlett said the town of Saratoga was ranked third in a rural water taste test. He added the town has consistently been in the top-five out of around 30 rural municipalities throughout the state over the last few years.

The next water and sewer board meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on July 9 at Saratoga Town Hall.

 

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