County shuts down road project

POMEROY–Garfield County Public Works Director Grant Morgan, requests $12,000 to retain legal counsel to resolve a contract issue with Scarsella Brothers Construction at the Garfield County Commissioners meeting held April 27. He stated work has stopped on the Gould City Phase 4 road project until there is a resolution.

Due to a contract issue with Scarsella Brothers Construction, Morgan requested approval for funding to retain outside legal counsel from Lewiston, who specializes in this type of dispute, at an estimated cost of $10,000 to $12,000. He anticipates that the federal grant funding for the project may cover that cost.

Morgan would not disclose detail to the cause of this contract issue, only that he had verified the existing subgrade conditions were as described in the original documents.

Morgan, assisted by County Prosecutor Matt Newburg, is currently drafting a response to the contractors, and anticipates a resolution by the end of the week. The road is shut down for now, and to re-open it would require moving some equipment out and area clean–up to allow traffic to pass. His intent is to get the contractor back to work as soon as possible.

No decision was given at the meeting.