A Carbon County commissioner is questioning why a management company hired to oversee multimillion dollar projects is continuously needing to issue change orders for work that wasn’t included in the original project specifications.

On Thursday, the commissioners, in a 2-1 vote with Commissioner Rocky Ahner voting no, approved change order number 8 to an agreement with Boyle Construction Management of Allentown.

This change order is for Gehringer to have Beth-Allen erect an overhead pedestrian sidewalk protection on the Broadway side of the courthouse and will cost $3,900, increasing the contract with Boyle to $875,335.50.

Ahner, who has a background in construction, voiced his disapproval over the multiple change orders that have happened since before the county opened bids on the courthouse renovation project.

“I know it’s a safety issue,” Ahner said about the need for scaffolding outside the courthouse during the roof repairs. “To me, this should have been in the project. ... This should be in the blueprints.”

He said that another company that was hired to do the roof and HVAC work on the administration building had everything in their plans and blueprints before the contract was signed so why was this missing from Boyle’s project outline?

Ahner said $385,000 in contingencies are built in for the project for unexpected problems that come up once work starts, but things like this make it look like the county isn’t properly preparing contractors before a project begins. He said that is why a construction manager was hired.

Previous projects

Boyle Construction has handled overseeing several projects for Carbon County, including the Susquehanna Street buildings renovation, the 525 Iron St., Lehighton building renovation and the Emergency Operations Training Center construction.

Ahner said that continuing to throw money away on change orders that should have originally been in the bid specs is going to come back to hurt the county, its employees and the taxpayers.

“Every time we give away money, that $3,900 would have actually given two employees at $18 per hour, a 6% raise for a year,” Ahner said.

He said the county has a contingency for $385,000.

“When we get to doing our taxes in another month we’re going to say ‘You know what, we got to raise our taxes because we want to give it to the employees.’ Right here is the money for the employees and we continue doing this all the time and there is always an excuse.”

Ahner said the project was going to start on Sept. 5 and now it’s not supposed to start until Sept. 25 because of the delay due to the missed need for scaffolding.

“What were they going to do, give everybody a hard hat that walked by the building?” Ahner said.

Ahner said $75,000 in change orders for general construction occurred two days before the bids for the project were even opened. One for $15,000 was added the day bids were opened.

He questioned whether the bidding was fair since a company that came in higher may actually be the low bidder after all change orders are factored in. Ahner predicted the contingency fund will be gone by the time this project is over.

“This building (the administration building) had all the safety precautions and now we’re making excuses for the courthouse,” Ahner said. “We know where the entrance to the courthouse is. We know what part of the roof is being repaired. ... This is standard OSHA procedure to protect the public when they come to our buildings.”

Ahner said Boyle Construction should have had that in the project. He said if OSHA came here tomorrow, they would say shut it down.

He also said that Boyle knows that and that the county keeps doing the change orders.

“We hired them to do a job. I didn’t hire them to do it half way,” Ahner said. “We have the (county) administrator calling the police department or wherever she’s calling. That’s not her job. She has daily operations to take care of.”

Ahner said it is not the county administrator’s job to make the calls, nor is the county solicitor’s or the county commissioners.

“We hired Boyle Construction to do this job,” he said. “If they don’t want to handle the job and do it the right way, then you know what, let’s get somebody else.”

Oversight

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich asked who reviewed the bids for the county. Eloise Ahner, county administrator said Boyle reviewed the bids, adding that they also secured the proposal for the roof repairs.

“So they failed to notice that there was a lack of safety implementation in the bid,” Lukasevich said.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein asked if Boyle did the roofing bids or if that was done separately.

Eloise Ahner again responded that it was Boyle.

Lukasevich said that while he agrees that “Boyle has failed us in their ability to properly advise the commissioners, I think the risk is too great to allow this project to be delayed.”

Nothstein brought the blame back on the board, saying that they also had a chance to review the bid specs, and said that the courthouse is an old building so lots of things happen.

Ahner countered, “We hired this company to look at the bid. If I wanted to do that, I would have resigned and I could have bid on this project and could have been the project manager. When we hire people, we expect that responsibility out of every contractor that comes in here. None of them are exempt from it.”

Following the meeting, the commissioners were asked why the county is responsible for covering the cost of a mandatory safety item that was missed by the construction manager.

Lukasevich said that ultimately the board of commissioners is responsible for the project and can delegate responsibilities. He said Boyle Construction has been meeting expectations; however, he thinks that they can challenge this change order.

He deferred to the county solicitor, who will now review the contract to see if this matter could be challenged. He said the action was approved because challenging it before the change order was signed would have caused further delay to an already delayed project.

“We can fight that fight another day when it comes to are they liable because they failed to provide good advice, counsel or do due diligence in their job,” Lukasevich said.