North Judson officials are hoping to resolve a nearly two-year-old dispute related to the town’s water improvement project. HRP Construction says it was hit with a $14,000 repair bill, after its crews damaged a utility line while working on the project in 2019.
Company representatives told the town council Monday that the line wasn’t on any of its plans. They said Commonwealth Engineers, which oversaw the project, asked them to send an invoice and offered to present a change order to the town council. But that didn’t happen, and HRP officials said they didn’t hear anything back from Commonwealth for several months.
However, town officials said Commonwealth blamed HRP for the damage. Town Superintendent Joe Leszek said that, according to Commonwealth, the water line was marked on the print but turned out to be three feet off, something HRP could have discovered through preliminary drilling. Leszek, who took over as town superintendent after the incident happened, said he wasn’t aware of Commonwealth ever agreeing to pay, only that they offered to investigate.
Still, Council President John Rowe noted that Commonwealth could have sent a more definitive denial earlier. The town council plans to talk with Commonwealth Engineers tomorrow morning to try to get the issue resolved.
