SOUTHWICK –The Whalley Park project was discussed during Wednesday night’s Park and Recreation meeting. Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates, who is the consultant for the project, was present to address the current situation with the contractor, JL Construction.
In a draft letter recently provided to the Park and Recreation Committee, which hasn’t been officially sent to JL Construction, Levesque addressed a few items regarding tasks that JL Construction was requested to complete under the specifications portion of the project.
For irrigation, JL Construction encountered several damaged locations of irrigation and Levesque has responded by saying someone has to be responsible for the damages that have been caused to some of the irrigation.
Down Under, a local irrigation company in Southwick, has done work at Whalley Park numerous times and had worked with JL Construction in the past. Down Under ended up completing the irrigation repairs, which totaled to $8,912.17. Although, in Levesque’s letter, the consulting firm believes that JL Construction should be held responsible for any fees that could be associated with irrigation repairs.
R. Levesque Associates wrote a drafted letter that addresed the items in the project directed towards JL Construction. (WNG File Photo)
“In the specifications it clearly states that the contractor is responsible for any damages to existing facilities,” said Levesque.
Another item discussed in the letter was the electric delivery fee. Levesque talked about that situation as follows:
“Industry standards indicate that the contractor, being JL, is responsible for any utility fees resulting from the testing and activation of equipment installed under the contract during and for a period of time after the completion of the project. Electricity was provided to the newly installed lighting systems from an existing power supply at Whalley Park. The Park & Recreation Commission has offered to waive the Supply fee incurred but was invoiced a Delivery fee for a period when testing occurred but no Park events requiring use of the lighting systems took place.”
With a delivery fee being due to Eversource for $1,017.71, Levesque also feels that JL Construction should cover any costs that involve the utility delivery fee.
The third and final item that Levesque noted was the liquidated damages. Originally, the completion date for the project was to be March 30, 2017. According to Levesque’s letter, on March 23 JL Construction requested an extension until May 31, but the Park and Recreation Committee denied that request.
Reported by the Westfield News on April 6, Levesque acknowledged to JL Construction Owner, Jason Larochelle that a $500 fine would be issued to the company for every day they were past the March 30 deadline for the project.
Since JL Construction finished the project 28 days late, on April 27, Levesque believes that the contractor owes a total of $14,000 in liquidated damages.
It hasn’t been decided yet, but Larochelle did say that he is thinking about disputing the roughly $23,900 that Levesque states that he should owe for the irrigation, electrical fees, and liquidated damages.
The Westfield News will continue to provide updates on this as information surfaces.
