Stratford construction project deadline moved up one month

By Kevin O’Brien

A road construction project in Stratford will be completed a full month earlier than originally expected after the village board approved a change order at its May 14 meeting.

Because the contractor was able to start construction early in the spring due to unseasonably warm weather, trustees felt comfortable moving the substantial completion date back from Aug. 30 to July 31, at the recommendation of project engineer Dan Knoeck. The final completion date was also moved back one month, from Sept. 13 toAug. 14.

In March, the village awarded a $886,297 contract to Melvin Companies for replacing water and sewer lines on portions of Monarch Street and Jasper and Allington avenues, along with reconstructing about 1,500

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feet of roadway and installing new sidewalks and curb and gutter.

Knoeck, who works for MSA Professional Services, said Melvin Companies has already replaced all of the water and sanitary sewer lines on Monarch Street, and as of last week, it had started working on storm sewers and laying down gravel in the roadway. A second crew is working on replacing water mains on Jasper Avenue, he noted.

Knoeck apologized for the lack of advance notification to residents regarding water shutoffs and driveway blockages, as was promised in a letter he wrote before the project began. However, when it comes to driveway access, he said it wasn’t the intent to provide notice every single day, but only as the project progressed into different stages.

All of the underground work on Monarch Street has been finished, he said, and the plan last week was to start grading the road for residents to use.

“Hopefully, within the short-term here, they’ll have gravel out in front of the properties and then access issues won’t be as problematic,” he said. During public comment, a couple of residents raised concerns about “less-thanstellar” communication from the contractor regarding issues such as driveway access and water service.

Gabe Anderson said Stratford police came to his home because of the way he was interacting with those involved in the project, so he wanted to vent his frustrations to the board. Despite the letter promising 24-hour notice of driveway blockages, he said “that’s never happened, ever, during the course of the project so far.”

Anderson also said his water service has been shut off at least three times without advanced notice, and the one time he got notified, it was after the water had already been turned off.

In response, Knoeck said the contractor should be providing 24-hour notice on water main shutoffs, but they had some leaks in the temporary water service and had to shut it down for repairs without time to provide notice.

“I don’t think they were long outages when that happened, but you’re right, the notices were not given,” he said.

Anderson also questioned whether emergency access to their homes was being maintained over the weekends, saying that heavy equipment has been left parked on the roadway, blocking fire hydrants. He said the police became involved after he moved a barricade from a location where he didn’t think it should be placed.

Knoeck said he would speak to the contractor about maintaining access for emergency vehicles over the weekends, but he also said the barricades need to stay up at all times to prevent motorists from driving through the construction zone.

“If you do need to move them to get in and out on weekends, it would be good to put them back if you can,” he said. “Normally, the contractor would set them up so there’s a little bit of a gap so residents can get through but it still looks like it’s closed to others passing by.”

Another resident, Michael Foley, said he has experienced many of the same frustrations as Anderson, citing a problem with a water leak that created a sinkhole in his yard.

“It was met with less-than-stellar replies,” he said.

Foley said he understands the need for the project, but he and others were not prepared for the scope of the work and the disruptions it would cause. In addition to having “zero access” to his driveway, he said he has lost three packages that were supposed to be delivered in the mail. Knoeck apologized for moving residents’ mailboxes twice, but he said they had to do so because the local postmaster objected to their original location.

“We tried to communicate that to residents with a mailing, but even then, it can be a pain. I realize that,” he said. “I appreciate your patience.”

In response to a question from village president Keith Grell, Knoeck said the plan is to put down both layers of pavement this year instead of waiting until next spring.

Besides changing the completion date, the board also approved a $282,492 payment to Melvin Companies, which covers all of the work it completed as of May 3. Knoeck said the payment represents about a third of the company’s total contract.

Trustee Dale Heil said he was pleased to receive only one minor change order so far, with no monetary impact, on such a major project.

“We haven’t had any other change orders for any surprises,” he said. “That’s pretty good.”

Other business

n Police chief Tom Koontz told the board that his department saw an uptick in activity last month, with a total of 128 calls, compared to 85 in March and 80 in April of 2023. He said the increase was partly due to nine mutual aid requests from Marathon County and the Spencer Police Department, and also because of some larger investigations.

Koontz also said the department’s new squad vehicle has been built and delivery is expected by the end of the month.

n The board approved a contract extension with Weber Logging, which has agreed to harvest and purchase timber from the Klemme Reserve. Due to the warm weather and lack of frozen ground, the company was unable to start its harvesting operations as originally planned this past winter, but it still hopes to complete the project by the March 15, 2026 contract deadline.

n The board approved motion to forgive $24.84 in sewer charges for the homeowners at 118234 Sunset Ridge Drive, to account for an accidental overflow when filling a pool. The original request was for $59.84, but the board deducted a $35 metering fee for the water going into the pool.

n The board approved motions to allow open alcohol containers and close a portion of Legion Street, between STH 153 and Larch Street, for a June 8 car show.

n The board approved the purchase of a Penn Valley Double Disc pump for $11,864, to be used at the wastewater treatment plant.

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE - Work continues on Monarch Street in Stratford, where water and sewer lines were recently replaced. The village board voted last week to change the substantial completion date to July 31. STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER