Knox officials continue working through some issues with the upgraded wastewater treatment plant. Mayor Dennis Estok told the rest of the board of works last month that the city was still holding back some of the retainage from Thieneman Construction.
Part of the ongoing negotiation still stems from a concrete pouring accident last year that led to the need for an unanticipated cold joint in the basement wall. Thieneman offered to provide a $7,000 maintenance bond, but said it could only get a bond for five years at a time, not the 10 requested by the city.
In a letter to city officials, Thieneman said this is the first time in 22 years it’s been asked to get a 10-year maintenance bond. Estok countered that it’s the first time in 22 years he’s seen so many extensions and so few workers on a project this size.
But Wastewater Superintendent Jason Clemons felt that engineering firm Jones Petrie Rafinski was also at fault for a design flaw. “Three months after it was all up and running, we had the first issue with that grit pump not running the way it needed to run,” Clemons explained. “When we pumped it down to vac it down, there was a lot of sediment in there. There was a lot of stuff in there that I thought shouldn’t be in there. So we cleaned it out. We finally got that grit pump running. Three months down the road, it’s doing it again.”
However, Estok noted that design flaws can be hard to prove.
