By Steve Plunkett
Town commissioners and staff fretted that substantial work on Phase 2 of Gulf Stream’s big water main, drainage and road project would not begin early — or even by the originally scheduled mid-March start.
Town Manager Greg Dunham gave commissioners an updated checklist of progress Feb. 14 with not much progress to report. For sprinklers and landscaping: “Work is ongoing, but very randomly,” it said. All mailboxes restored? “Only a few locations have been addressed.”
What’s more, engineers were waiting for a video of a large but defective underground pipe so they could figure out how to remedy it.
“When they initially televised it and noticed that it was to the point they probably wouldn’t be able to complete the televise, it was roughly three weeks ago. And our firm asked them, ‘Hey, we need that footage. We need to make a declaration of a plan that we need to do.’ We’ve communicated with them in the field multiple times and meetings, in our scheduled meetings. And it’s now to this point, like you said, roughly three to four weeks later,” said Anthony Monroe, an inspector for Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers.
At the January commission meeting, contractor Roadway Construction LLC wanted to get an early start on Phase 2, mostly the roads in the Core District east of Polo Drive, to avoid working near the Gulf Stream School when students are there.
But that incentive appears to have vanished after Police Chief Richard Jones said his officers can easily divert parents dropping off and picking up their children onto State Road A1A when work crews had to be close to the campus.
“We’re no longer going to be requiring that schedule,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.
Dunham asked about cracks already appearing in the concrete valley gutters along the sides of the asphalt in Phase 1.
“All the light cracks and whatever that will be seen will be assessed on a walk-through and put on the list,” Monroe said.
Dunham noted that the scheduled March 14 commission meeting will come before Roadway’s March 18 deadline to finish Phase 1.
“So we’ll certainly be able to give you an update then,” he said.
“And hopefully pick up the pace,” Morgan said.
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