Follansbee officials to address sinkhole caused by collapsed line
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FOLLANSBEE - Follansbee Council, during a special meeting preceding Monday’s regular council meeting, agreed to contract for the replacement of a stormwater line which caused a sinkhole to open in a residential neighborhood.
Council approved a motion to pay up to $38,000 for the replacement of the line on Shannon Boulevard, located in the Highland Hills area of the city.
Fifth Ward Councilman Joe Kafton explained the issue could be traced to heavy rains in August, resulting in the lines being overwhelmed and flowing into the basement of one of the residents. City crews had responded to the area in recent weeks to investigate and discovered a collapsed stormwater line.
"We’ve had an open trench since then," Kafton said. "It’s starting to cave in. It’s pretty deep. It’s about a 10-foot trench."
The city received two bids for the project – $18,250 from Keith Yost Excavating and $133,060 from Alex Paris Construction - although it was noted the scopes of the two bids were vastly different.
Council noted the Yost bid focused only on the replacement of the line in its existing path and backfilling the area, as well as planting grass seed. There was no mention in the bid, officials noted, of the cost of the pipe.
The Alex Paris bid, meanwhile, included costs of materials and labor, recommended relocating the stormwater line and had a cost for any landscaping replacement.
Second Ward Councilman John Casinelli expressed concern for the disparity between the two proposals.
"Is one a patch job and one a fix job?" he asked.
It was suggested the city reach out to Yost to see if there would be an amended cost for the company to include materials, or if the city would have to provide the lines itself.
City Manager Chris Manack-Stover said the project needs to be done as it is having a detrimental effect on the neighborhood, noting they will have to find money somewhere in the general fund to cover the costs.
Fourth Ward Councilman Rudy Cipriani asked if it would be possible to use a portion of grant funds the city had received for the separation of water and stormwater lines, but Manack-Stover said the project’s consultant, Ghosh Engineering, was hesitant to set aside any of the funding for an area outside of the city’s downtown, as it could create issues with state and federal governmental agencies auditing the grant.
"They’re afraid it’s going to send up some red flags," she said.
Public Works Director Bill Secrist noted similar concerns were expressed when the city asked about using the grant in the Parkview area of the city.
Cipriani expressed frustration with such limits.
"We get grant money, but we can’t spend it on this," Cipriani said.
Council noted if the costs with Yost go higher than $38,000, to include the materials and labor, then a special meeting will have to be held for additional discussion.
(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com)