City withholds 10% of street paving contract until punch list items done

    The contractor hired for the concrete paving and related work on a pair of streets in Imperial will have to wait awhile for a final payment.
    The city council voted Monday to issue a $46,279.80 payment to Nielsen Contracting of Kearney, but is holding out 10% of the contract—$114,891.65—until punch list items are finished.
    Nielsen was the only bidder and received the contract for paving sections of Holland and East 2nd Streets in the southeast part of Imperial.
    The contractor missed its Nov. 1 completion date deadline, but asked for and was given a 30-day extension.
    A company spokesman cited the weather and COVID as reasons for the extension.
    Public Works Supt. Pat Davison said all of the concrete work was “pretty much” finished by Dec. 1, making it “substantially complete.”
    Davison was directed by council members to find out when the last pour was completed on the project.
    There has been a final walk-through of the streets which included a rep from city engineer Miller & Associates, Nielsen Contracting and public works employee Dan Leibhart.
    Davison was out of town and not at the walk-through, he said Monday.
    Among the items to be finished include repair of some of the concrete street panels which have broken, sprinkler system repairs and seeding.
    Until those are finished, the city will hold out the $114,891.65 payment.
    Based on the discussion, there doesn’t appear there will be a financial penalty for not having the work done by the deadline, only that the city will hold out 10% until all items are done.
    “It’s up to you guys. They were supposed to be done the end of November, right?” asked Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland.
    “It depends on how all that was written up as far as ‘substantial completion’ and ‘final’
is,” Davison said.
    Davison said the last pour the contractor did was the sidewalk on the west of the project, but couldn’t say if that was before or after Dec. 1.
    No one answered a question on why there is a completion deadline in the contract if it’s not being enforced.
Other business
    There were a number of other items addressed at Monday’s meeting.
    A wage ordinance was approved, adding two employees to the payroll at the Imperial Manor and Parkview-Heights—new Director of Nursing Kelli Simeon and Director of Clinical Education Gail Dinnel.
    Simeon, who has started at DON on a part-time bases, will earn $90,000 annually while Dinnel will receive $45 per hour, according to the ordinance.    
    Both women also received $5,000 sign-on bonuses.
    Dinnel was hired last fall as DON for the facilities but recently moved to the clinical education position. She did not receive a bonus when hired last year, said Leyland.
    At a Jan. 17 meeting, senior services board members approved a temporary hourly rate of $45 for RNs and $35 for LPNs. It was noted there is a significant shortage of nursing personnel available and “we are finding it very difficult to staff to an acceptable level,” read the minutes.
    Bonuses within the police department were also on the agenda, but action was not taken Monday since Police Chief Ryan Wisnieski was unable to attend.
    Leyland said Tuesday a signing bonus was brought up for a potential new officer. Retention bonuses were on the agenda with it for the three current officers.
    “That was going to be in discussion with Ryan (Wisnieski),” Leyland said.
    It’s expected those bonuses will be discussed on a future meeting agenda.
    In other action, city office employees Sarah Hoskovec and Roxane Miller were approved to have online bank portal access.
    The second council meeting this month falls on President’s Day Feb. 21. Because that’s a city holiday, the meeting was moved to Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.
    Mayor Dwight Coleman’s appointments of Cathy Belau to the senior services board and Nolan Spady to the Airport Authority were approved. Belau replaces David Kahle, while Spady fills the seat vacated by Eric Haider.
    Leyland noted the Airport Authority seat is an elected position and the seat Spady filled is up at the November 2022 election. Spady is considered an incumbent now, so would have to file by the earlier Feb. 15 deadline if he wants to seek election to the position.
    An ordinance that makes changes to specific sections of the city personnel manual regarding vacation and sick leave was approved.