By Gary Lloyd
Trussville Mayor Gene Melton said at Tuesday’s Trussville City Council meeting that the construction of a greenway at Civitan Park and the Cahaba Project area has become a “real problem” for the city.
The construction is being done by Montgomery-based Burnett Civil Contracting through a federally funded grant. The city of Trussville has no supervisory authority over the contractor, Melton said.
Melton said that as of Wednesday, the contractor had 29 work days left to complete the project before entering the liquidated damages aspect, which would include the contractor owing the Alabama Department of Transportation large sums of money. Work days include Mondays through Fridays in which there is no delay because of weather. Holidays during the week also do not count as work days.
Melton said that should Burnett Civil Contracting end up not finishing the project, the state would take over the project, and a bonding company would choose a company to finish it. Burnett Civil Contracting began the project in April 2012.
Should that happen, Melton said, the delay on finishing the greenway could go into November or next spring.
“It’s not real good news,” Melton said.
Because the project is federally funded and state-controlled, the city cannot interfere with the construction at the site, Melton said. He said the grass at the Civitan Park area could get “head high” before the project is complete.
“It’s a frustrating project,” said Trussville City Council President Brian Plant.
Several Trussville residents were at the city council meeting to ask about the status of the project. Martha Driggers called the area around the veterans memorial a “disgrace.” The original plan was to unveil the veterans memorial, complete with names of Trussville veterans, on Memorial Day last year.
City Councilman Buddy Choat said the project, which originally began in 1998, has become a “nightmare.” City Councilman Alan Taylor compared the situation Trussville is in now with the contractor to a “Monday morning quarterback,” saying essentially that hindsight is 20/20.
“It was a bad play call,” he said.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management notified the city of Trussville in writing of concerns it has with the construction under way on the greenway project at Civitan Park earlier this year. The letter provided a litany of concerns regarding work done by Burnett Civil Contracting, including soil erosion, improperly kept silt fences and barren land that hasn’t been seeded or covered with hay to stop runoff.
Driggers suggested “Work in Progress” signs or fences to block people’s vision of the incomplete work. Melton said again that the city cannot interfere with the work, or risk a possible lawsuit in the future.
“I don’t believe we can’t do nothing,” Driggers said. “I just don’t. If you can’t fix it, hide it.”
A post at www.trussville.org dated May 15 asks citizens to be patient as the project continues. Melton said he’s doing all he can within the law to push the contractor to finish the project.
“I’m pushing every button that I can push,” he said.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.