By Matt Koesters
newsroom@newsandtribune.com
CLARKSVILLE —
The Clarksville Redevelopment Commission at a Thursday night meeting approved a change order for extra work along Eastern Boulevard, raising the cost of the project by as much as $221,000.
The change order was presented to the commission by Jorge Lanz, engineer with the firm Jacobi, Toombs and Lanz.
The bulk of the added costs come from additional overhead costs to run the improvements project past its original completion date, at a cost of $1,000 per day, not to exceed more than 153 days, dating back to Nov. 13 of last year. Lanz told the commission that the contractor, Mac Construction and Excavating, Inc., would not commit to a revised completion date any sooner than June 30.
“We kept beating them down and beating them down,” Lanz said of the costs. “We beat them until there wasn’t anything left.”
Other costs on the change order include $175 per day over an identical timeframe for maintenance of traffic costs and about $40,000 for various items related to the construction.
In October, the town warned of costs associated with the delays.
“Most of the delays have been associated with utility movement,” said Rick Dickman, Clarksville’s redevelopment director, in an October Evening News article.
At that time, water and gas lines were being moved as a part of the project. Additionally, Dickman said, heavy rains slowed the project.
Because the delays were not the town’s or the contractor’s fault, Dickman said Mac Construction likely would receive additional compensation.
They’re already were being paid about $4 million for the project.
Including about $1 million in property acquisition, it’s a more than $5 million project. The plan is to widen, modernize, landscape and add sidewalks and streetlights to the one-time destination strip. It’s the first time the road has had a major resurfacing in almost 20 years.
Work began Aug. 16, 2008, and was expected to take about 18 months, but Mac has two years to complete the renovation, which has impacted motorists, businesses and nearby residents. Dickman said in October it likely would be June before the road is complete.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
• The commission received two quotes for the purchase of the old CSX rail line between Interstate 65 and Silver Creek in Clarksville. The town intends to place a stormwater trunk line on the premises. The first quote came in at $325,000, while the other quoted a value of $1.4 million. The lower quote did not take into account that CSX would sell the entire rail corridor.
• The commission heard a proposal for a parking layout at businesses located on the 500 block of Eastern Boulevard near Brooks Avenue. The proposal includes landscaping along the frontage of the businesses and the destruction of a vacant portion of a retail building owned by Virginia Minshall.
The proposal, presented by Richard Moore of R.W. Moore Consulting Engineers, was not presented with a price. The construction along Eastern Boulevard could reduce the number of parking spaces at the businesses by as much as 38 percent.
— Matt Koesters is a freelance journalist for The Evening News who lives in Jeffersonville.
