Good news did not rule the night for Allen County Hospital trustees.
“We’re up against three significant issues” Sheldon Streeter, project manager with Murray Construction, said.
First is the city lacks approval from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to run the utility lines along easements, which belong to the city.
“The information was submitted months ago, but we’ve just found out some administrative issues are hanging things up,” Streeter said. “I want to be optimistic and say we’ll be able to recover these lost days, but I don’t have that assurance other than having a naturally optimistic disposition.”
Engineers had figured the KDHE permit would be in hand by April 16 to allow work to flow as scheduled.
The second holdup is the news Jeff Bauer, code enforcement officer for the City of Iola, has resigned. Bauer has been the go-to guy for engineers and architects to get the needed permits to build the hospital.
Outstanding permits include a structural permit to lay the foundation of the hospital and a pumping permit for laying pipes underneath the hospital.
The structural permit is needed by Monday. The full building permit is needed by June 4. The city’s insistence that all building plans be reviewed by an outside third party, the International Code Council, could cause delays, David Wright, architect with Health Facilities Group, Wichita, said.
Currently, the number of single-sex bathrooms is an issue.
THE THIRD roadblock has to do with acquiring enough clay to support the parking lot and building pad.
The soil on the site is not what Terracon, a soil-testing company, led engineers to believe was there.
“Terracon indicated zero topsoil on the site,” Streeter said. “We’re finding anywhere from 18 inches to 3 feet of earth. It’s too much of a good thing.”
Engineers were expecting the soil to be mostly “usable clay,” Streeter said.
Terracon took 33 soil borings on the 25-acre site. None revealed topsoil, Streeter said of the report.
“Without clay, we’ll have to bring in some kind of acceptable fill material. Initial investigations have shown this will cost $250,000,” Streeter said.
“We don’t see where that’s in the realm of possibility. We need to figure out a way to do it better.”
