Middletown approves contract amendments for water-tank work; PCB-contaminated soil and contractor delays raise added costs

The Middletown Board of Estimate approved two separate contract amendments with engineering firm Clark Patterson Lee (CPL) to cover additional inspection and construction-phase work at city water storage tanks after contractor delays and unexpected site contamination.

In the first action the board approved an amendment to CPL’s contract related to delays on the Highland Avenue tank tied to contractor performance on work that began in October 2023. The board approved additional compensation of about $20,500 for CPL’s services; the presiding official moved the measure, Mister Massey seconded it, and the board recorded aye votes with no opposition. Mister Tewil, who presented the item, described repeated delays—testing, paint, cathodic protection—and said the city has been in touch with the bonding company and intends to seek liquidated damages tied to missed contractual completion dates. "We've been in touch with the bonding company for this tank, and we intend to charge them liquidated damages up to around $50,000 from the date the contract completion has ended until the date we commissioned the tank," Mister Tewil said.

A board member reading the resolution noted a disparity in figures in the paperwork, saying the resolution showed about $267,500 in accrued liquidated damages year to date and CPL services estimated at about $72,000; Mister Tewil responded that the city expects to recover damages only for the period from the contract completion date in October 2023 until roughly February 2024 and that the city will "try to maximize it as much as possible." The transcript records discussion of a prior change order of about $59,000 for additional inspection during the extended period beyond the original contract term.

Separately, the board approved a CPL contract amendment request of $90,000 tied to work on the Mountain Avenue and High Barney Road tanks (identified in the transcript as D and N tanks). Mister Tewil said that after removal of an old steel tank at Mountain Avenue crews found soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The city engaged the state environmental regulator (referred to in the meeting as "DEC") and negotiated testing limits; staff said initial cleanup testing reached a level of 1 milligram per liter compared with a previously discussed cleanup target of 0.1 milligrams per liter. Tewil said the next steps require continued testing as crews excavate and that hauling and testing costs are currently estimated at about $150,000 and could be higher depending on the depth and spread of contamination.

Mister Tewil told the board the water-storage project overall is funded primarily through a grant obtained from EFC and the state revolving fund; he said the project cost is just under $3,000,000 and that the EFC grant will cover most of it with no payback required, with the remainder financed through the state revolving fund. He added that the city is not seeking additional funds from the water fund balance at this time but that more extensive soil removal could change that assessment.

Both contract amendments were moved, seconded by Mister Massey, and approved by voice vote. No public comments on the items were recorded in the transcript.