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Coal tar study costs city $143KBy JASON SINGERsinger@sanduskyregister.comSANDUSKYAfter a three-month standstill, the city will pay an environmental consultant more than $100,000 for an investigation of the coal-tar plume.Columbus-based Malcolm Pimie will receive payment for technical investigations it conducted earlier this summer at the site of the coal-tar plume, said Todd Roth, the city's director of engineering.Malcolm Pimie turned over a breakdown of its engineers' costs two weeks ago, and the documents are sufficient to merit payment, Roth said.The city had been withholding payment until it received die proper records for the work performed.City officials asked Malcolm Pimie for a breakdown of costs in July, but the company didn't adequately respond until this month, according to e-mails andstatements the city provided.“The breakdown was satisfactory and I plan to process payment, Roth wrote in an e-mail to the Register.City planners wanted a breakdown of costs to explain why the coal-tar investigation cost $143,000, a number that surprised many city employees.As part of the investigation, Malcolm Pimie oversaw the drilling of four holes in the Paper District, tested samples and analyzed old data.Before receiving the bills, the city believed the investigation should have cost $122,000.Malcolm Pimie's costs were higher than expected in some areas, city officialssaid.Sandusky brownfields consultant Bob Haag expressed frustration that it took several months and repeat media coverage to force Malcolm Pimie to provide a breakdown of costs.See the documentation MalcorrvPimie ^ : r gave the city of Sanduskyonline atFor his part, interim city manager Don Icsman said he didn't know the industry's norms or the particulars of this situation.But he expects Roth, who the city hired several months ago, to demand itemized bills moving forward.“I think that's best practice, Icsman said.Malcolm Pimie hasn't returned multiple messages from a reporter seeking more information on the breakdown of costs.In June the city paid Malcolm Pimie's first invoice of $36,122, but it hadn't paid anything to the company since then—until now.A $400,000 U.S. EPA assessment grant is payingfor the projectBetween July and November, the city asked Malcolm Pimie for a breakdown of its work on at least four documented occasions, according to city documents.On several occasions, Malcolm Pimie told the city it would provide a breakdown by a certain date, only to miss the deadline, city documents show.The company provided some information to the city previously—including a list of people who worked on the project and their totalwork horns.Still, it wasn't the information the city asked for, Haag said.The city's planners wanted to know specifics on the time spent on each task, as well as the cost andhow many workers it took tocomplete the tasks.Two weeks ago, Malcolm Pimie answered those questions when it provided narrative billing statementsfrom Oct 19andNov. 14.look lor these advertisers'preprints in the RegisterSunday, December 5thKroger's * MC SportsStaplesJC PenneySporting Goods * SearsBoormanBestBuy • ABC WarehouseMary'sMeijer's *1)01111(00Menards • Smart Source Coupon Book• FrontierSandusky#AttentionFneil Hp+ii*ppc]
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Sundusky Register
Sandusky, Ohio, US
Sat, Dec 04, 2010
Page 1
Full Page
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Elyria P.
OH, USA 16 Aug 2019
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