HH_120618

4 | December 6, 2018 | The Homer Horizon news
homerhorizon.com
Homer Glen Village Board
Officials discuss delays, approve change orders for Heritage Park Active Core
Jessie Molloy
Freelance Reporter
The Homer Glen Village
Board had a lengthy conversation
at its Nov. 28 meeting
regarding payment change
orders issued for the Heritage
Park Active Core Project.
The Active Core is running
behind schedule, in
part because of poor weather
conditions. While Phase I
of the project, including the
sports facilities and play and
fitness areas was scheduled
for completion by Oct. 19,
it remains uncompleted, as
does Phase II’s sensory garden
and court games, which
were due to be completed
last week. With continued
snow and freezing temperatures
predicted, it is now assumed
that all three phases
of the park will be completed
in spring 2019.
Nevertheless, several
change orders have been issued
for the items that have
already been completed,
fixing or addressing issues
which were overlooked or
needed additional work.
The board approved payment
on three of those items
during the meeting for a total
cost of $18,161.
The first approved order
provides $7,000 in funds
for extra materials and labor
needed to install handrails
at the park’s pavilion. The
handrails are required by
building code but were overlooked
in the original plans.
Another item allocated
$5,115 for landscaping
changes and backfilling,
which was necessitated by
drainage issues and utility
installation. According to
Village Clerk Anne Holtz,
this issue was not discovered
until some of the work was
already underway and was
fairly routine.
The third issue, which
caused some debate among
the board members, regarded
the replanting of 19
trees. Integral Construction
is requesting $6,046 in landscaping
and earthwork costs
related to the removal and
transplanting of the trees,
which were installed during
the completion of the Heritage
Circle construction project
but were deemed to be in
the way of the Active Core
construction.
Some of the trees in question
were moved and transplanted
in Goodings Grove
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Park, while others are being
stored and are awaiting replanting.
Trustees Keith Gray and
Christina Neitzke-Troike
questioned if the Village
should be responsible for
these costs if Integral Construction
or TRIA Architecture
should have foreseen the
conflict and was therefore responsible
for the extra work.
“I want to know who
messed up here,” Mayor
George Yukich said. “If you
do a job for someone and
screw up, the person who
hired you shouldn’t be responsible
for the extra work
costs.”
Trustees Beth Rodgers and
Brian Burian, the only two
trustees who had attended
the staff meeting where initial
approval was given for
the orders, were both absent
from the board meeting.
“Staff approved the payments
for the work, so we do
have to pay it,” Holtz said.
“We just don’t know who
gave the approval, because
neither of the people who
were there are here to explain
it.”
This created further debate,
as Neitzke-Troike said
she thought she should have
been notified of the meeting
as co-chair of the Parks &
Recreation Committee.
“I know I had a baby and
missed a few meetings, but
I would have appreciated an
email letting me know this
was happening before this
week,” she said, also drawing
into question why Burian (a
member of the Community
& Economic Development
Committee) had been included
in the meeting and she had
not.
Village Manager Anne
Marie Gaura noted that in
order for all three trustees to
be included in future meetings
with the park, the meetings
would need to be made
public and be announced in
advance.
“We could make them public,
if that’s what you want,”
she said. “Though, if it were
public and residents were attending,
that could change
the tone of the conversations.”
Rodgers, who was reached
Friday, Nov. 30, said she was
not at the meeting and had
not seen the video of it yet,
so couldn’t speak to anything
discussed. Burian could not
be reached for comment.
Eventually, the board voted
to approve all three payments,
as they had already
been approved by staff but
agreed to look into improving
communications about
meetings and who would be
attending them.
One requested payment
by Integral that was not approved
related to costs for
additional stone infill and
clay removal at asphalt pavement
areas.
Because of complications
with ground moisture, it
was deemed by the project’s
inspection engineers that
some clay would need to be
removed and replaced with
stone in order for paving to
be completed.
TRIA approved the work
for an amount not to exceed
$25,000, and some of
the work has already been
completed (though it has
now been halted by inclement
weather). The board was
given a request to approve
spending for the project up
to $25,000 but was not given
any receipts or copies of orders
explaining how much
money has already been
spent on the work.
As a result, the board declined
to take action on the
item until more information
was available. The trustees
then agreed that they would
reimburse Integral for the
work that had already been
done when the proper paperwork
had been submitted,
and pay for additional
services once construction
resumed.
The cost of all pending
change orders has been accounted
for in the Heritage
Park project budget. An
amount of $200,000 was earmarked
in the park contract
approved this past July to be
spent as needed on change
orders.
Integral and TRIA did not
respond to requests for comment.
Agreement for professional
planning services
In addition to the Heritage
Park approvals, the board
also voted unanimously
to approve a contract with
GreenbergFarrow for professional
planning services.
Assistant Planner Kyle
McGinnis left the Village’s
employment on Friday, Nov.
30, to take a new position.
Since it will likely take a
few months to replace him,
GreenbergFarrow staff members
will be made available to
the Village in the interim to
assist with planning tasks, including
site plan reviews and
variance proceedings.
The $6,000 contract began
on Thursday, Nov. 29 and is
expected to last two to three
months while a new full-time
assistant planner is found.
Coat driving taking place at
Jewel-Osco, Village Hall
Gray noted that the Jewel-
Osco at 14200 S. Bell Road
is once again hosting a coat
drive in conjunction with the
Chicago Bears to benefit the
Salvation Army.
Coats are being collected
through Feb. 1. The goal of
the drive for the entire Chicago
area is 25,000 coats.
Please see village, 6