Grass Seed Added to Punch List for Winamac Water Project

The weather conditions this time of year are apparently keeping grass from sprouting at the Winamac Water Project site, resulting in an additional punch list item.

While going over remaining items, Midwestern Engineers CEO Mark Sullivan suggested putting grass seed on the punch list.

However, contractor Kevin Madison from KDM Services felt it was unnecessary to add it on. He said they already performed the procedure but that it wasn’t the ideal time of year for it.

He explained that they put 150 lbs an acre on, which is plenty of seed but the lack of rain in recent weeks has been stifling the growth. He estimated that it’s about 30 percent up at this point, since there are certain areas where there is good soil and it’s coming up.

Madison mentioned that they even went above and beyond what was mentioned in the project specifications to ensure the area would be well seeded. He said rather than just doing the disturbed areas, they did the whole one acre piece.

After some discussion, Madison, town council members and Sullivan agreed to add the grass seed to the punch list. They settled on attaching a cost of $1,200 to the item, since that’s what Madison said was spent on the first seeding process.

Sullivan added that if the weather ends up cooperating, the additional procedure may not even be necessary.

He explained, “If things go right, it will come up and we’ll just say we’ll cut loose money and be done with it.” Madison responded, “Okay, that seems fair.”

Officials decided that when early October rolls around, they will establish whether or not the additional seeding will be needed.”