Commission approves corrective action, closes out Horton/Sixth street overlay dispute

Fort Scott commissioners on Feb. 4 approved Change Order No. 4 addressing rejected overlay work on Horton Street and Sixth Street and accepted a corrective plan from the contractor at no additional cost to the city.

The vote follows engineering and public works staff recommendations and a review of contractor-proposed corrective actions that include diamond grinding and a fog seal. City staff said the corrective work will be performed when weather permits and that the contractor will re-profile before grinding to meet KDOT specifications.

The move closes a months-long dispute about overlay smoothness and whether the original work met specification. Public works staff said the rejected work left more than 178 defects in the profiling, including some greater than one inch; one commissioner said the contractor performed a single three-inch overlay where the contract called for two lifts, which could leave less than two inches of overlay in some sections after grinding.

“That means in certain sections of the road after the grinding takes place, there will be 2 inches or less of material in the overlay that will be left,” a commissioner said during the meeting. Several commissioners called the workmanship unacceptable.

Despite the objections, the majority concluded litigation or forcing a full repave was unlikely to benefit residents and approved the corrective plan, adding six calendar days to the contract to accommodate the rework schedule.

Commissioners and staff said the episode demonstrates a need for “tighter management and closer oversight” on future projects and discussed clarifying the city’s contractual inspection roles. The city’s engineering consultant acknowledged gaps in distribution of addenda and said the firm will change preconstruction/document practices and increase inspection resources on future jobs.

The motion to approve Change Order No. 4 passed with a majority vote; one commissioner voted no.