Businesses botching $21M EC water line being sued

ouriel@sanduskyregister.comSANDUSKYTwo businesses building and overseeing work on a botched $21 million water line in Erie County face legal action for improperly installing the infrastructure.Perkins Township resident Timothy Betton filed a taxpayers' lawsuit against engineering firm Burgess & Niple and construction company Speer Bros.Lawyers from Murray & Murray in Sandusky are representing Betton, filing the case on Monday in Erie County Common Pleas Court.The lawsuit claims each defendant, both hired by county commissioners, breached multimillion-dollar contracts when construction occurred on a new rural water line from 2001 through 2004.County water customers paid the entire $21 million for a rural water district, comprised of multiple water lines, primarily servicing about 1,300 customers in southwestern Erie County, such as Groton Township. In total, about 11,000 customers tap into county water lines.When being built, both firms touted the new water line as a 100-year, low-maintenance system.Though it's been anything but that, Betton's attorneys contend."The water lines have experienced a number of alarming failures," Betton's attorneys argue. "As of the filing date of this complaint (Feb. 1, 2016), there have been approximately 40 documented water line breaks."Betton's attorneys seek an unspecified amount. The money, in theory, would either refund county water customers or pay for construction in hopes of correcting potentially shoddy work."Upon information and belief, the entire water system, or a portion or portions thereof, will need to be unearthed and replaced," according to the lawsuit. "Erie County has been and will continue to be affected by interest on its outstanding debt incurred to install the defective water line. The county will have a less satisfactory credit rating, resulting from its obligations to finance the defective water pipeline over the foreseeable future." Calling out each companyThe lawsuit accuses both companies of major shortcomings, leading to an overall defective system.Among the accusations made against both entities:Speer Bros., based in Sandusky and paid about $18 million for pipeline construction work:• Neglected to surround newly installed sections of water lines with the proper stone material, which violates the manufacturer's guidelines, prevailing national standards and county water line specifications• Placed pipes either atop or beside sharp, jagged rocks instead of surrounding them with stone, putting infrastructure "at risk of premature, constant and serial failure"• Improperly used an excavator bucket or some other large machinery to drive sections of pipe together during the installation process• Failed to install water lines deep enough and "created a risk of premature pipe failure" by exposing them to the elements• Lawsuit comment: "Speer has breached its obligations, pursuant to the installation contracts, and has provided Erie County with an inadequate and improperly installed water system with significant risks of premature failure, which will require the ongoing repair of breaks as they will occur or require the complete replacement of the water lines."Burgess & Niple, based in Columbus and paid about $2.5 million for pipeline engineering services:• Failed to adequately supervise, inspect or properly report continuing noncompliance of Speer, as was its obligation under the design contracts• Lawsuit comment: "B&N has breached its contracts with Erie County by failing to properly inspect and monitor or maintain adequate supervision over Speer during installation of the water line, which resulted in Erie County having an inadequate and improperly installed water system with significant risks of premature failures, which will require the ongoing repair of breaks as they will occur or require the complete replacement of the water lines."Representatives from both companies failed to return messages seeking comment. Lawyer talkDennis Murray Sr. and Charlie Murray, attorneys representing Betton, offered comments on various subjects pertaining to this case:• An entire county in uproar: "Several people have come to us and expressed concern about the costs associated with the original construction and what the county is bearing for repairs. Everyone is concerned about whether the responsible party or the appropriate party is being held responsible for the maintenance."• Who is Timothy Betton? "He is the normal 'average Joe' taxpayer. He is an Erie County resident and certainly one of many people fed up with this issue. When this all surfaced, he said, 'What can we do about it?'"• What do you figure? "There is no specified amount we are seeking at this time."• Erie County not listed: "This suit is not against the Erie County commissioners nor against any of Erie County's fine employees."• Thanks, but no thanks: "We brought this issue to (Erie County prosecutor) Kevin Baxter first. Mr. Baxter indicated, after the research, that they would not bring this to the cause too so then we did."• On deck: "This is like any other breach-of-contract case. We are asking for verification of issues, such as: "Is there proper stone installed in and around these water lines? If there isn't proper stone around these water lines, why not? Who had a responsibility to put it there? Who had the responsibility to make sure it was there?"• Reason for action: "This is not intended to suggest that the overall quality of the defendants is not excellent overall. The suit only is directed as to how the Erie County taxpayers were damaged with respect to the overall multiple failures as to the quality of services as they are related to the $21 million water line project in the rural water district of Erie County. The district does have multiple, serious problems that will have to be timely identified and fixed before they risk overwhelming the financial well-being of Erie County." Pipe probeThe Murrays credited the Register for first exposing potentially problematic issues with the water lines.Documents obtained by the newspaper throughout 2015 revealed a faulty water system marred by numerous construction issues — most of which commissioners knew about, but did nothing to remedy, during construction.Several experts interviewed said they recommend commissioners authorize someone to dig up and reinstall the water lines.A rushed commission vote in April to increase water rates countywide, without prior notice or justification for these price hikes, prompted a series of public records requests. Information received yielded similar issues raised in the lawsuit.Despite perceived problems in the rural district, servicing only 1,300 customers, the county's remaining 9,500 customers in the urban district must also pay higher rates, 10.5 percent over a two-year period, ending in 2017.To visualize it: 100 percent of county water customers are paying higher rates in a flawed district, serving only 13 percent of those recipients.For months, county commissioner Pat Shenigo urged his colleagues, Tom Ferrell and Bill Monaghan, to pursue an independent investigation, which could possibly pinpoint culprits responsible for shoddy construction work.But the two shut him out. Ferrell and Monaghan also trumped Shenigo, by a 2-1 vote, to raise the water rates.Neither Ferrell nor Monaghan returned several phone calls and messages left for them seeking comment on this news story.But Shenigo offered some perspective, optimistic about finding answers to this unsolved mystery."We all want what is best for the community by taking a good, hard look at what appears to be a significant issue," Shenigo said. "There was $21 million spent back in the early 2000s to install 200 miles of water lines. The public deserves to know what it got for its money. It's unfortunate it took this many years to bring this to light, but hopefully this action will resolve who is responsible for the long-term maintenance of this water system and ultimately what we all pay for water in Erie County."In this 2013 photo, an Erie County water line worker removes broken pipe, damaged by sitting atop jagged, sharp rocks. Erie County's water line specifications require crews install stone bedding around the pipes.