Dunn County commissioners on Tuesday approved a $467,091.92 pay estimate to Schwartz Construction for work on 14th Street while acknowledging significant construction problems and discussing a likely schedule extension.

The payment, moved by Commissioner Pelton and seconded by Commissioner Heizer, passed on a roll call vote with all commissioners saying yes. The county’s road staff recommended the payment as the second pay estimate for the project.

County road staff described a series of errors discovered during construction, including incorrect pipe inverts and missing grading adjustments that left contractors with unexpectedly large quantities of waste dirt. “We went from 5,500 yards of waste to 18,000,” a county road staff member said, noting that differences in soil behavior and earlier correction orders had increased scope and cost. The county said it would cover certain pipe extensions voluntarily and that it was paying $13,000 to add required pipe extensions "out of our own pocket" to try to resolve immediate problems.

Commissioner Pelton, who has been vocal about the project’s problems, criticized work quality and field decisions made during grading and pipe installation, saying he had "never seen so many errors on it" and warning that mistakes on the 60‑inch pipe and regrading could cause a "ripple effect" that delays other county projects. Pelton said contractors had already asked for a time extension; county staff confirmed receiving an extension request with a proposed new completion date of Sept. 1.

County officials said they intend to meet soon with Schwartz Construction, the road superintendent and other stakeholders — including the state Department of Transportation where relevant — to negotiate corrections, time extensions and liquidated‑damages decisions. "We're still trying to wrap our heads around it, and maybe we can have a meeting that we can sit down and hammer some of this stuff out," a county engineer said.

The commissioners did not take formal action on liquidated damages or on the contractor’s extension request at the meeting. Staff said the parties were not planning to assess liquidated damages immediately and preferred a sit‑down meeting to reach a resolution. Commissioners emphasized they wanted the project corrected promptly and urged staff to brief the board again at the next meeting if talks do not resolve outstanding issues.

Background: the 14th Street project had previously required design corrections and adjustments to pipe sizes and alignments. The county said some of the delays were related to weather and to an earlier contractor personnel death that affected scheduling.

Commissioners instructed staff to pursue a meeting with Schwartz Construction, the road superintendent and any necessary outside agencies before deciding on penalties or formal time‑extension approvals.