Additional water system costs upset some Springdale officials

Unforeseen costs on the $7.5 million Springdale water system renovations are leaving some Springdale Council members unhappy.

Change orders totaling nearly $41,000 were brought to council this week. Of that amount, at least $29,000 were unexpected costs.

In addition, another unforeseen turn of events may result in council having to buy a back-up generator for the water treatment plant. That’s expected to cost about $150,000, according to Kevin Szakelyhidi of Bankson Engineers Inc., the project engineers.

Council President James Zurisko asked Szakelyhidi how a change order of nearly $17,000 came about for connecting a new waterline along James Street to Springdale Junior-Senior High School.

“We knew we would need to make a connection to the school, but we didn’t know what it was or where it was,” Szakelyhidi said. “We did the best we could with what we had.”

He said it turned out to be a larger pipe than expected, of which 40 feet had to be purchased, along with additional gravel and paving.

Szakelyhidi said another change order of close to $12,000 was because a shut off valve was not in the right location at the borough’s water tanks.

“Everybody thought that valve was on the waterline into the tanks,” he said.

Actually, it was located in some woods about 60 to 80 yards from the tanks.

“This is something we just discovered,” Szakelyhidi said.

The third change order was for about $12,000 . Szakelyhidi said that involved additional valves for the line along Rossyln Avenue, which the borough requested, and a valve for a connection that he overlooked along that line.

As for the generator issue, he said that arose due to a recent notice from First Energy Corp. which supplies electrical power to the water plant. That power comes into the plant on separate lines through two separate substations; borough officials were confident that would cover the plant in the event of outages.

But First Energy notified the borough that it will be shutting down one of those lines in the near future. That will leave the plant without a backup to run the pumps and move water into the tanks, from which the borough’s water supply flows.

Szakelyhidi said the cost of a permanent or portable generator are about the same, roughly $150,000.

He said the borough could get around that expense by depending on the water supply maintained in the tanks when they are filled. He said that amounts to between two and three days worth of water.

A problem could arise, however, if there is an emergency in the borough, such as a major fire, that could reduce the available supply during a power outage.

Szakelyhidi said he would provide council with a detailed estimate of the cost of a generator.

“Every time we turn around, it seems like something is getting messed up,” said Councilman Mike Ziencik.

Councilman Frank Forbes said he brought up the matter of a generator with Szakelyhidi earlier.

Councilman David Spirk, the water department chairman, said it was not Szakelyhidi’s fault that First Energy made the decision about the power line. But Forbes said it’s a matter of planning for the borough.

“We don’t depend on the power company for that,” Forbes said. “We look to you for that, and we’re not getting the bang for our buck.”

Spirk believes the criticism is too harsh.

“It’s a $7.5 million project,” Spirk said. “The problem is the lines weren’t marked in the past. You can’t go around digging up streets to look for lines.”

“I think (the project) is going fine,” Spirk said. “There is nothing unusual about this.”

Tom Yerace is a freelance writer.