By David Hedges, Publisher
thetimesrecord.net
A long-awaited water line extension for southern Calhoun County took a step forward Monday.
Or maybe not.
Controversy surrounding the project continued to swirl as the Mt. Zion Public Service District awarded bids for the extension and also voted to support a formal investigation - of itself.
One contractor predicted the project would end up in court, and even the project engineer said Monday there would likely be problems when the board's decisions are reviewed by funding agencies.
The $5.2 million extension, the largest infrastructure project in the county's history, will serve nearly 200 customers with 21 miles of new line from Russett to Chloe, along with the Millstone and Sand Ridge areas.
Bids were opened July 2 for the water line, known as Contract #1, and installation of a 100,000-gallon storage tank, known as Contract #2.
Board members are still in disagreement about a motion made at their meeting on July 13. Member Shirley Mace says the water line bid was awarded to the low bidder, Ron Lane Inc. of Arnoldsburg. PSD chairman Sharon Postalwait said that motion was contingent upon a recommendation from project engineer Jim Hildreth.
When Hildreth did make his recommendation, at a special meeting Aug. 31, he said the contract should be awarded to Bruce Allen Pipeline of Harrisville, whose bid was $200,000 more than Lane's.
That meeting was a week after the Calhoun County Commission called a meeting to see why the project had been delayed. Several in attendance expressed frustration about the delays.
One day before the Aug. 31 meeting, PSD member Della Nichols resigned, leaving only two members.
At that meeting, Postalwait wanted to accept Hildreth's recommendation to award the contract to Allen, while Mace said it had already been awarded to Lane.
That left things in a deadlock.
Lane was in attendance and said he would not file suit if the bid were not given to him because the community was in need of water.
But a bidder on the other contract, the storage tank, said he would take legal action. Bruce Caswell of Welding Inc. in Charleston said his company's bid was never opened because of a technicality. He said Hildreth is the only engineer that requires bidders purchase a set of plans from him.
Caswell said he had already obtained plans from the state contractor's association, but still sent Hildreth the required $100 to buy a set of plans before the bid opening. He said Hildreth returned his check because he did not include $25 for postage for a set of plans Caswell said he already had.
Monday morning, the Calhoun County Commission appointed Roscoe Gainer to fill the vacant seat on the PSD.
Once Monday's PSD meeting at the Arnoldsburg Community Building got started about 30 minutes late, Mace again questioned the minutes from the July 13 meeting, when she said Lane was awarded the bid.
PSD secretary/treasurer Wilma Mace said she did not understand the motion that way.
Gainer made a motion to vacate the July 13 motion that passed 3-0, with Postalwait and Shirley Mace both in support.
Gainer then made a motion to award the bid for Contract #1 to the low bidder, Lane.
That motion passed 2-0, with Postalwait not voting.
Although the bids expired Sept. 2, Lane said he had submitted a letter extending his bid.
Fred Rader of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council, the agency administering the project, said the decision to award the bid must still be reviewed by the funding agency, the USDA Rural Utility Service, before the contract is approved.
The board then took up Contract #2 for the storage tank. Caswell urged the board to open the bid he submitted July 2 and consider it.
"If our bid is not read, we will do everything legal to stop the project," Caswell said.
The only bid opened July 2 was from Mid-Atlantic Storage Systems Inc.
Board members went into executive session for a telephone conference with project attorney Tom Whittier, who was in Maine, to discuss their options.
When they returned, they opted not to open the bid from Welding Inc. and accepted the bid of $319,600 from Mid-Atlantic, also on a unanimous vote.
At Gainer's suggestion, the board moved their meeting time to an hour later, starting at 6 p.m., still on the second Monday of each month.
The board also voted to submit a letter of support for a resolution adopted that morning by the Calhoun County Commission. That resolution calls for a formal investigation of the Mt. Zion PSD by the W.Va. Public Service Commission.
The investigation is to include financial and management issues, record-keeping, audits, hiring of engineers and bidding procedures.
All three county commissioners attended Monday's PSD meeting. Before the meeting, commission president Bob Weaver said the investigation was requested because the PSD had failed to comply with the commission's requests for financial records sent to PSD secretary/treasurer Wilma Mace.
"We got a few items, but it did not comply with the request," Weaver said.
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