CAROLINA BEACH — The controversy over the dredging of Carolina Beach Lake continues. This time the contractor has spoken.
The lake dredging project has come to a halt due to a misunderstanding between the town and the federal government.
The town notified the contractor, Civil Works Contracting, via letter, that it would not compensate the company for a number of costs associated with the delay. Jacob Barton, CWC vice president, responded to these claims in a three-page letter dated Oct. 30 to the town and its engineer, SEPI Engineering and Construction. In it, Barton explained why the company is entitled to additional compensation.
The claims
Last week, Town Manager Michael Cramer released a letter stating, “Initially the contractor requested $3,500 per day for rental equipment. As specified in the SEPI letter dated Oct. 20, 2017, the contract does not support the contractor’s request for a change order to the contract.”
But CWC officials believe otherwise.
Barton challenged SEPI’s statement that claimed the company would not be entitled to compensation because, according to SEPI, “no duration or change of scope has been defined with regard to the suspension … no task or responsibilities have been requested of CWC to be performed which deviate or exceed the defined scope within the current contract documents.”
Barton said the town specifically requested CWC to perform activities that only are required due to the suspension like securing the construction site, filling and grading, and installing erosion control measures.
According to Barton, CWC is willing to wait on discussing costs associated with the delay, since there has yet to be a timeline set fourth stating how long the delay would last, but the company does claim it is entitled to payment – a cost of more than $100,000 so far.
“CWC is willing to agree to reserve its claim for demobilization and remobilization, as well as time delay items until the final scope of the suspension is determined. However, at this time CWC claims it is entitled to recover payments for equipment ordered to stay on site and ready to begin operations during the negotiations for additional disposal areas. CWC has included the sum of $102,126.76 from August 30, 2017 – October 9, 2017 and $19,041.09 from October 10, 2017 – October 17, 2017,” Barton said.
The town also responded to the contractor’s request for payment saying that CWC replied too late to the matter, therefore making its claims for compensation invalid.
“In the Town’s response of October 22, 2017, it contends CWC’s request for cost in connection with the late August suspension notices was untimely and therefore denied. This is not the case … The right to these costs is not the same as a claim resulting from a change in scope or time caused by items discovered by the contractor. In any event, and claim regarding timeliness has been waived by the Town’s conduct or the Town is sopped to assert such a defense,” Barton said.
Letter from CWC by Michael James on Scribd
Michael Praats can be reached at Michael.p@localvoicemedia.com
