Iola commissioners have once again denied a request to pay more for a roof project at the Iola Public Library.
The commissioners, meeting Tuesday, said they still saw no reason to authorize a revised change order that would cost the city an additional $19,530 to complete the library roof, part of the library’s ongoing renovations.
They were approached by Clint Tackitt, representing Allied Roofing Systems of Springfield, Mo.
At issue was Allied’s actions in June after the company was hired as a subcontactor by General Services Corp. of Oswego to replace the split-level roof.
When Allied crews began removing the existing roof, they quickly discovered it was much thicker than anticipated, increasing the cost of removal.
Tackitt contended that Allied was obligated to continue the work once it began removing the old roof, so they did so, without an authorized change order.
Tackitt said Jordan Irwin, the project’s superintendent “told us we need to finish it. So in good faith, we followed his instructions.”
A subsequent change order presented to the city in July sought an additional $30,000 for the roof work.
Commissioners directed Allied and GSC to negotiate a lower price. A second change order presented in August pared $3,000 from Allied’s cost, while General Services said it would pare its costs slightly as well. Another $9,000 also was taken off the price because of a previously unannounced discount to the city.
Commissioners were not moved by Tackitt’s contention, noting the company should have known before beginning the project the roof’s thickness.
Tackitt responded by saying that doing additional preliminary inspections — including drilling a core sample into the old roof to determine its thickness — was taboo in the construction industry, because of the potential liability issues for the drilling process.
“We’re highly dependent on accurate job specifications,” Tackitt said. “Had we done the drill sample, our bid would have been $30,000 higher. So would anyone else’s.”
Still, commissioners said that Allied’s issues remain with GSC — the company with whom Allied has a contract — and not the city.
“I don’t see that there’s anything the city can do to help,” Mayor Bill Maness said. Because Allied still has its contract with GSC, Allied should complete the roof work at the original contract price.
Renovation work has slowed to a crawl inside the library with the roof contract unresolved.
General Services has presented Allied with an order to proceed, or it will find another subcontractor to complete the roof.
“We were hoping to get some direction from you,” Tackitt told commissioners, a plea that ultimately was denied.
Meanwhile, only cursory renovation work is ongoing inside the library, Roger Carswell, the library’s director, told the Register this morning.
Carswell said it was unknown how the ongoing delays would affect the project’s completion date.
Usage of the library is down this year, with the public access limited to the western half of the building in what normally would be the Southeast Kansas Library System offices.
Roof work in limbo
