The Cole County Commission on Tuesday approved a final closeout change order on a St. Martins area neighborhood improvement district that should have been completed in December but has yet to be finished.
The order calls for $40,500 to be deducted from the final payment to Kaufman Enterprises as liquidated damages for not completing the project on time.
The district is in the Parkview Meadows area, which includes more than 100 properties off Route T. The county Public Works Department has been overseeing the work, which includes improvements to streets, curbs, driveway entrances and drainage.
Stockman Construction was brought in to complete the work, as the county hopes to finish the project so it can be put on the tax rolls for the upcoming year. The goal is to be done by July 28, but it's possible it might take until the first week of August.
Kaufman was awarded the project in June 2016 after submitting the lowest bid of seven companies. Its $394,000 bid was considerably lower than the estimated cost of $607,812.
The commission approved creation of the district in November 2015. Work was to be completed by Dec. 2, 2016, and the county gave Kaufman an extension to March 31 of this year. At that time, the county began to assess the liquidated damages, and the county terminated the contract June 15, determining Kaufman would not be able to finish the job.
"I call it the job from hell," company owner Tom Kaufman said. "I lost $100,000 on this job. I had good guys out there. I don't know, maybe it was just too overwhelming."
Kaufman told commissioners prior to Tuesday's commission meeting he thought he could pay a $10,000 penalty.
Commissioners, though, said it was stated in the contract penalties would be assessed for work not completed on time, noting they had given Kaufman several months to finish the work.
"If you thought you weren't going to able to get things done, you should have said something months ago," Western District Commissioner Kris Scheperle said.
Kaufman replied, "If I had thought I would be able to walk away, I would have."
Landowners will have the option to pay off their costs 30 days after the work is finished or to have it go on their tax bill as a lien.
Neighborhood improvement districts allow neighborhoods that are not up to county code to be fixed so they can be accepted into the county road system. This work is above and beyond what the county normally would do on road projects not in the road system.
No county tax dollars are being used on the project. The majority of landowners signed a petition supporting formation of the district.
Also at Tuesday's commission meeting, half-cent capital improvement sales tax funds were approved for sealing to extend the life of a couple of county roads. Work on Glovers Ford Road as well as Swifts and Boise Brule Road should be done by the end of August. A pavement restorative seal - a rejuvenator to extend the life of new asphalt pavement - will be applied by crews with Corrective Asphalt Materials of Illinois. The cost is $65,636.
In other commission news, the county was given a "clean" audit by Williams Keepers Accountants for 2016.
Company officials said the county had total revenues of nearly $40 million in 2016, compared to $39.4 million in 2015.
Expenses went up from $37.6 million in 2016, compared to $33.7 million in 2015. All accounting records were found to be in good order.