By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members have learned the city will move forward on a paving project at the international bridge, but only after an approved contract had to be rescinded because the engineering firm planning the project failed to include a crucial aspect of the work.
City Purchasing Agent Luis Menchaca addressed the problem and city administrators’ fix during the council’s June 13 meeting.
In an informational packet provided to the council, Menchaca noted the city council authorized the city manager to seek bids for the international bridge mill and overlay project in the spring of 2021. Menchaca said the project includes milling (stripping the top layer) of 3,800 feet of pavement on the international bridge and the road leading up to it and overlaying the section with new pavement.
Menchaca wrote the city council previously authorized the city manager to award a contract for the work to Anderson Columbia Co. Inc.
“Once the agreement was signed and after reviewing the site and project plans, Anderson Columbia let the city know that part of the scope (of work) should have included bridge armor joints, which were not initially addressed in the project plans provided by the engineering firm,” Menchaca wrote.
He said once the changes were incorporated into the scope of work, “the cost had exceeded guidelines set for change orders by Texas local government procurement laws,” and the council approved an ordinance terminating the contract with Anderson Columbia.
During the June 13 meeting, Menchaca told the council, “We wanted to bring this item up because it has been something that we have been working on for quite a while, beginning in May 2021, we did go out for bids. After that, we were able to award to a vendor, but once the project was started, and we were trying to finalize the contract, we realized that there were issues with the way the original engineering plans had been made, and there was very important items missing, so, long story short, we had to cancel that contract, and since then we’ve been trying to find an engineering firm to help us with the redesign of that project, and even though the (engineering) contract doesn’t require council approval, we did want to bring it up so that you would be aware and the citizens would also be aware that it is something that we continue to work on.
“There has been an engineering firm that has been selected from the 10 on-call (firms) that we approved last year, and a contract is already developed. We should be starting to work pretty soon on getting that done. Once we get those engineering plans completed, then we will bring back another item to council so that we’re able to get it approved to go out for bids,” Menchaca added.
“And this was already budgeted, right, $625,000?” Mayor Al Arreola asked.
“Yes,” Menchaca replied.
Arreola then asked his council colleagues if they had questions for Menchaca.
“I’ve got one. The original engineering firm that did this, who was it?” Councilman J.P. Sanchez asked.
“Bain Medina Bain,” Menchaca replied.
“Shouldn’t we hold them liable for these omissions? You know, this is why we go to an engineering firm in the first place, because we’re asking their guidance in the procedure that we’re going to do, in this construction that we’re going to be doing here, and they’re supposed to be able to make sure that we’re doing the right thing, and, yes, we have monies available and all that, but I kind of feel that this is something that the engineering firm should be held accountable for. That’s why we hire them in the first place,” Sanchez said.
City Public Works Director Albert Quintanilla spoke to the council about the project.
“After this whole thing, when we canceled this contract, we did reach out back to Bain Medina Bain, and they did update the plans, but not to our satisfaction. They basically showed the picture of what the armor joints on the bridge were and put a general note saying, ‘Follow TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) standards on armor joints,’ but the detail they showed was for a new bridge structure, and you leave it up an inch-and-a-half high so you can put the new hot mix there,” Quintanilla said.
“They didn’t show the details when you’re going to mill out the existing asphalt and have to put the new asphalt back in, it entails a lot more handwork and everything else, and so they were going to start asking for additional fees to come up with all these new details and everything else, so we told them we’ll just terminate this contract with you, and we’ll reach out to a second contractor,” the public works director added.
“That’s something to keep in mind. We don’t want to use this engineering firm again. We can’t allow them to be charging us for work that they’re going to do and then for their work to be incomplete. You know where I’m coming from?” Sanchez said.
“Yes, that’s why we terminated the contract with them for this project and didn’t go back to them,” Quintanilla said.
“For the future, you need to realize who you’re dealing with and the mistakes that they made and then they back out and they want to charge us more for it. Well, wait a minute, you should have done that in the first place. That’s why we go to you. That’s why we go to an engineering firm and an architectural firm and whatnot,” Sanchez said.
“That’s what I wanted to know. You’ve answered my questions, and I appreciate your answer,” the councilman added.
“Councilman, we have had that discussion about that,” City Manager John Sheedy added.
“It just kind of chaps me. You’re paying for a service and you’re not getting the service that you require, and it costs us thousands of dollars. Sure we have the money for it, but that’s not the point,” Sanchez added.
The council took no action following the update.
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