05 - APPROVE MINUTES FROM COUNCIL MEETING ON 06/08/2015

Home Browse Search

Regular Council Meeting June 8, 2015 Page 6 The tour group returned back to City Hall at 6:55 p.m. 17. Staff recognition and receive presentation from Mayor Hashmi and Council Member Clifford on the water and sewer infrastructure project, the drainage ditch located at 41St Street and Highway 82 West, discuss and act. Mayor Hashmi recognized city staff members who did work on Sperry Street citing not only did they do awesome work, but they saved the City $10,000. Council Member Clifford gave a presentation which included a slide show reflecting photographs of the areas that were toured. Council Member Clifford said upon seeing the problems on Houston Street, he requested a copy of all the city inspection reports pertaining to the entire project from Mr. Godwin and received what was available to Mr. Godwin. Council Member Clifford also said he reviewed the specifications that were supposed to have been followed by the contractor and reviewed architectural drawings, which there was only one. He said he was a doctor and not a concrete expert, so he went to TX DOT and spoke with one of their engineers who explained the drawing to him. Council Member Clifford stated the drawing showed all of the concrete specifications including the required strength of the concrete, the sub - straight material the concrete must be laid on, the type of steel rebar that must be used for structural support in the concrete, as well as the required spacing of the rebar. He also stated the specs described the amount of concrete above and below the rebar as well as the thickness and dimensions of the parts of the curb. Council Member Clifford pointed out that one of the notes at the bottom of the drawing quotes "curb and gutter to have expansion joints on 30' centers at the end of all radius points and where new concrete ties to new concrete." Council Member Clifford said he met with Mr. Godwin and told him there did not appear to be any expansion joints between the new and the old concrete, that Mr. Godwin agreed and saw that the work was not in compliance with the specifications. Council Member Clifford said although he requested all inspection reports, that he did not receive any inspection report that reflects these specifications were followed. Council Member Clifford said the citizens of Paris are spending over $35 million on water and sewer repairs, and we only get one shot at this. He also said this project will provide modern reliable sewer and water services to Paris, but if the work is substandard the City will bear the cost of its repair. Council Member Clifford said he would like answers to numerous questions. Was the work on Houston Street in compliance with the contract? Who was responsible for ensuring that the work conformed to the required specifications? How often was the work inspected? And where are the inspection reports? Who was responsible for the inspections? Why does the City Manager not have the inspection reports? Were the inspections that were performed adequate to insure that the concrete was poured properly and with the proper internal specifications? What about the rest of the project that's completely underground and cannot be seen? Council Member Clifford pointed out that thus far he had only discussed the concrete work and not the pipes that were installed underground that could no longer be seen. Were adequate inspections preformed regarding the quality of materials used and their placement in the ground? Are there any problems that are hidden underground that will cause expensive