By Kyle LoJacono
Staff Writer
Pasco County residents will not be stuck paying to finish three road projects left uncompleted when contractors of three major road projects were recently fired by the Pasco County Commission.
WDG Construction Inc. was fired by the county Feb. 3 from the Collier Parkway extension in Land O’ Lakes and the completion of a road connecting Mansfield and Meadow Pointe boulevards in Wesley Chapel.
Kearny Construction Company had its contract terminated in January from a project replacing waterlines along US 41 between Ehren Cutoff and SR 52.
Despite the problems, additional Pasco public funds will not needed to complete the projects because both companies were fully bonded.
“It’s very important that companies are bonded in case they can’t complete the project,” said Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader. “When a company is fired from a Pasco County project the bonding company is responsible for getting another company to complete the project. The bonding company then pays any cost over the original contract. No additional public money would be used in those cases.”
Schrader is from Pasco District 1, which covers all of Zephyrhills, Dade City, much of Wesley Chapel and some of northern Land O’ Lakes.
This bonding process will help Pasco complete all three projects.
“The bonding company has narrowed its list of companies to finish the Collier extension to six and they should make their recommendation soon,” said Pasco chief project manager Robert Shepherd. “The original building company received $1,489,000 for the work they had done, and 10 percent of that is withheld until the project’s completion. The company that finishes the project will get that 10 percent.”
The original contract with WDG was for $4.3 million. A replacement company for the Meadow Point connector road had not been named as of March 5, but Shepherd said the project is still scheduled to be completed in April.
Less information was available about the US 41 waterline project because it is not fully under the jurisdiction of the county.
“That project involved Federal stimulus money and had to meet certain checkpoints if it was going to continue to get funding,” Schrader said. “So the commission voted to end that contract.”
The construction currently happening on US 41 is under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation. That project is widening the highway to four lanes, but Pasco County has nothing to do with the funding. The county was however replacing the waterlines at the same time to take advantage of the equipment and the ready-made holes.
There are several steps before a county project can begin, with the last being the company getting bonded and insured to protect the public’s investment.
These safeguards are especially important now after Pasco’s head of finance recently said the county would likely lose $17 million this year without property tax increases.
Before a project is awarded, it must be advertised for at least 30 days while bids are evaluated. The lowest bidder wins the contract unless they have something that disqualifies them.
“Companies can be disqualified if they have a history of not completing projects or other similar red flags,” Shepherd said. “The county has attorneys look at the bids also to make sure the math is correct and everything is as it should be. Basically it’s to insure the company can finish the project.”
In this case the checks were unable to discover the issues within Kearny Construction and WDG that prevented them from completing their contracts.
“We want all of Pasco County to continue to grow and that requires road projects,” Schrader said. “It’s a problem during the project with traffic being delayed and occasionally you have problems with the contractor, but in the end it will benefit all the people and businesses in the area.”
