Fair Oaks Meeting: Residents Still Weary With Completion in Sight

With project completion still slated for the end of July, Sam Talebian of DMR Team, a consultant working with , presented merchants with a timeline of tasks to be completed over the next two weeks Monday at . 

Residents, however, expressed concerns about the tight timeline and asked several questions regarding transparency throughout the remainder of the .

"By Fourth of July, weather permitting, and if we are on schedule, we should be totally paved out on Fair Oaks," said Talebian. "Then after Fourth of July, we are going to come back and start doing the last intrusive part of the job, which is the cross-walks."

The cross-walks will be completed in three phases (see attached PDF).

“We are going to have every other intersection open for left turns,” said Talebian of the two latter phases, also mentioning that the quick set will reduce duration by five days per phase at a premium cost of$15,000.

“How will the signage show the drivers what’s happening?” asked resident Mary Urquhart.

“When we are doing outside lanes, we will have the signage that says ‘parking lane open,” answered Talebian. “As far as phases two and three, you’ll have signage that says ‘no left turn, detour,’ and it’ll send you to next intersection and then it’ll bring you back on.”

While a summary of approximately $100,000 in net loss was presented at the last merchant meeting (see attached PDF), extra work tickets estimated to equal around $25,000 have yet to be tallied. Plus, there’s the $15,000 in quick set charges, says Talebian.

“We hope to have [an executive summary] before it’s over. It’s better to talk about it while there is maybe still some chance to change things,” said Urquhart. “We see the timing, but we are not seeing the finances.”

Although Talebian explained that these numbers become public record when the job is completed and that the city is still in negotiation with the contractor, receipts and billables can be made public. Yet he says these won’t illustrate how much of the work has actually been completed.

“We can certainly give you an accounting of the contract,” said Council member Philip Putnam. “The accounting should be simple and that’s just contract balance, approved change orders and payments made.”

Residents also asked questions regarding credits due to the city from the contractor. Many believe American Asphalt did not follow specs in the contract— from keeping at least one lane open at all times to posting helpful signage.  

“The reasoning is inaccurate,” said Talebian of the merchant's concerns. “This was based on the assumption that the contractor has done something that is outside of the contract that he bid on, and that is not the case.”

The next Fair Oaks Construction Corridor community meeting is slated for June 27 at 8 a.m. at  Amy Nettleton, an independent contractor overseeing the landscape construction portion of the project, is slated to attend.

Check back later today for conversations that took place Monday regarding bulb-outs and landscaping. 

Click here to read what went on at the last Fair Oaks Construction Corridor community meeting.