By Gary Lloyd
The Trussville City Council on Tuesday approved of paying Cahaba Disaster Recovery up to $25,000 for work it did to clear debris from the Cahaba River on Saturday.
Mayor Gene Melton said Cahaba Disaster Recovery assisted the Alabama Department of Transportation in making the greenway project at Civitan Park compliant with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. ADEM will walk through the area today to determine if the project so far is up to its standards. If the city is not compliant, it could face a $50,000 fine, Melton said, though he said he believes the area will be compliant.
Melton said Cahaba Disaster Recovery and ALDOT did a year’s worth of work in four days, Saturday through Tuesday.
“They worked flawlessly,” he said.
Melton said that ALDOT could reimburse the money to the city at some point.
The construction of the greenway 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. As of Tuesday, Burnett Civil Contracting had 27 work days left to finish the project or potentially enter the liquidated damages aspect, which would include the contractor owing ALDOT 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 earlier this month 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.
ADEM earlier this year notified the city in writing of concerns it has with the construction under way on the greenway project at Civitan Park. 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.
Melton said about 768 bales of hay have been purchased and spread around the river at Civitan Park.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.