Sandwich discusses additional $62K for Latham Street project

As work winds down on a $3.4 million project to replace and widen a portion of North Latham Street in Sandwich, City Council members are discussing what the city should do in addressing additional costs.

At the Oct. 21 Sandwich City Council meeting, City Council members discussed a request by Hampton, Lenzini, & Renwick for an additional $62,565 in construction engineering services for the project. Doing so would increase the previously agreed upon contract from $256,532 to $319,097.

“If they believe that they have a basis for requesting an increase, they need to provide that to us,” Sandwich city attorney Cassandra Gottschalk told the council members.

Second Ward Alderman Adam Arnett said some of the engineering work on the project wasn’t done right, particularly in relation to ditches.

“I don’t think we should be paying for engineering that wasn’t right in the beginning,” he said.

Sandwich 4th Ward Alderman Fred Kreinbrink wondered what could be done to prevent this from happening again in the future. The City Council plans to discuss the issue again at a future meeting.

After the meeting, City Administrator Geoff Penman said Hampton, Lenzini, & Renwick is seeking additional money because the project took longer than anticipated.

“The original contract was for 26 weeks,” he said. “And we’re at week 30 or 31 now. So that’s part of their concern. It went significantly longer because of all the utility relocation delays.”

The project was originally set to begin in April 2023, but didn’t get underway until March 2024 because of utility relocation and realignment. The $3.4 million project is being funded by local, state and federal funds.

“There are specific things that are required through the Illinois Department of Transportation,” Penman said. “There’s a formula that dictates how much they can charge for a project. We just need to go backwards and make sure the hours match up with what they’re requesting.”

He said the project is 99% completed. The road was reopened to traffic in both directions in September.

“We do need to look at the ditches in the future,” Penman said. “We’re not really happy with the way those turned out. Those were designed more for water detention. The ditches are really steep. We don’t like it that way. It’s not very maintainable for the residents.”

As part of the project, more than a mile of existing pavement was widened and replaced. The project runs from the railroad tracks at East Center Street north to Sandhurst Drive.

Sewer and water improvements also are part of the project.

“We kind of widened the road a little bit from where the utilities were,” Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham said in previously talking about the project. “We put all brand-new water infrastructure in there. I know some of the residents will see better water pressure and better regulation of the water and delivery to their homes. And on the sewer side, same thing. We’re putting in some larger lines. Everything will be brand new, so we’ll have better drainage. And, ultimately, it will be a brand-new road. All the people who live on that particular street or drive through there will see the benefit of that project.”