The Knox Board of Works wants more information before agreeing to give Thieneman Construction more time to finish improvements to the wastewater treatment plant. Engineer Steve Henschen with Jones Petrie Rafinski told board members Wednesday that Thieneman has asked for a 56-day extension.
“So the current contract timeframes on that is substantial completion is August 3,” he explained. “Final completion is September 1. Here we are on July 22, today. I mean, there’s no way they’re going to be substantially complete. They recognize that.” The extension would bring the substantial completion date to September 28, with final completion on October 27. Henschen said the proposed change order wouldn’t result in any more cost changes.
But the city’s current equipment is already experiencing problems, and Mayor Dennis Estok noted that Knox would face hefty IDEM fines if it should fail completely when the project should have already been done. “They’re wanting an extension, but there’s been days they haven’t even worked down there. Good weather, no excuse.”
Board members questioned whether Thieneman should take some of the financial responsibility, if the city were to run into problems while waiting for the new project to be completed. In the end, they decided to meet with company representatives before granting the extension.
The board of works already approved a change order last month that increased the cost by almost $46,000.
