Monday, July 22, 2013
By Kalea hall
canfield
City council members declined to approve an emergency ordinance to widen North Broad Street from Skyline Drive to Dartmouth Drive.
Council members said they did not want to approve a $805,281 bid from Foust Construction Co. for a variety reasons, including a higher estimated bid, issues with the lowest bidder and the fact there are other areas in the city that need more attention.
“The bid came in at $30,000 over the engineer’s estimate, and Foust Construction has a history of doing poor work in the city,” said Daniel Frazzini, council president.
The North Broad Street Safety Upgrade Project would be a three-month project that city Manager Joe Warino wanted to start as soon as possible before the weather gets rough.
Warino said there has been backup at the left-turn area, and there are other safety issues on the street. The expansion would affect less than a mile of the road, Warino added.
An additional meeting to discuss the project may be set up for the council to continue to discuss its issues with the project.
“They were concerned about the way the project was bid out,” Warino said.
Councilman Andrew Skrobola, who abstained from the vote at last week’s council session, wanted to see a lump-sum bid, which would include all the expenses involved in the project. Warino, however, said that this would inflate the prices, and it was recommended by the Ohio Department of Transportation not to take bids that way.
Frazzini said he believes there are more-pertinent issues to deal with, such as the flooding that many residents are experiencing.
Frazzini does not want to accept a bid from Foust because of the past work they have done on East and West Main streets.
“I told the people who put me in office that I will never vote for them again,” Frazzini said.