Problems continue to plague $10.6 million Kinsman sewer project

Staff report

WARREN

When the $10.6 million Kinsman sewer project was finally ready to be constructed last November, Trumbull County officials breathed a sigh of relief that the financial and political challenges of the project had been overcome.

Turns out their challenges were not over.

Today, the county commissioners are expected to approve a fourth change order with Marucci & Gaffney of Youngstown, the general contractor, this time for an additional $120,384 for several problems that have cropped up during construction.

The main issue is that an additional 3,337 feet of stormwater pipe needs to be acquired and installed to replace existing stormwater pipes at a cost of $91,767.

Rex Fee, executive director of the Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer’s office, explained at Tuesday’s commissioners workshop session that the additional pipes need to be installed because the engineering firm that designed the project failed to detect thousands of feet of existing storm sewer along the project route.

The existing storm sewers were not visible because there were no catch basins or sewer clean-outs to make their presence obvious, Fee said.

Adding together the earlier change orders, the contract with Marucci and Gaffney is now going to cost $6.6 million, which is $708,638 more than the original contract of $5,888,000 approved by commissioners last September.

Commissioner Frank Fuda said most of the earlier change orders had to do with problems with the soil along the project route.

Twenty percent of the project’s cost will be borne by the 343 homes and businesses within a half-mile of Kinsman Center and the Farmdale area that will benefit from it.

The remaining cost is being paid through money from the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.