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Havre Public Works employees Jack Teske and Jordan Schend cover one of the open holes on the Bullhook rehabilitation project Thursday on Fourth avenue. The fence that surrounded the openings was taken down by the rental company that owns the fence.
Concrete culvert pieces, other construction material and sections of fence to be used to rehabilitate Bullhook storm drainage that runs under Havre lie on the ground by Fourth Avenue Thursday. The fencing that was around construction material and excavations into the drainage creek is being taken back by the Billings Company that rented it to Kincaid Civil Construction of Mesa, Ariz. Kincaid has not returned to complete the project that was supposed to be finished in December and still is negotiating terms of its contract with Havre.
Nearly a year after the project started, the company with which Havre contracted to rehabilitate the Bullhook storm drainage creek under the city still hasn't finished the job, and told the company from which it was renting fencing to take it back to Billings, but the mayor of Havre said he is hopeful Kincaid Civll Construction will still be back to finish the job.
"Kinkaid ordered them to come and get the fences they had rented," Havre Deputy Director of Public Works Jeff Jensen said.
Havre Mayor Tim Solomon said negotiations with the company, which had requested an extension to last April, are ongoing.
"We're still hoping they will get back in here," he said. "Them or a subcontractor for them."
The Bullhook drainage, also known as Bullhook, starts at Saddle Butte and runs into the city near Havre High School on the south edge of Havre and meanders through the city. A few spots still are open, but most of the drainage has been covered over by streets and buildings and dirt work over the last century.
The extent of deterioration of the system became evident in October 2013 when sections of street and sidewalk over the drainage began collapsing.
One of the first, a 10-foot-by4-foot section of the street near Taco Treat on the 500 Block of Third Street collapsed Oct. 4, 2013.
The city grew up around the channel over the years, with some buildings erected right over the drainage, with concrete pipes and metal culverts in the ground to convey storm drainage.
After investigating, researching, planning and fund seeking for nearly three years, the city contracted with Kinkaid in August 2016 in a $1,972,503 contract, paid through a $500,000 grant from the Treasure State Endowment Program, a loan and city funds.
Solomon said that when Kinkaid did not meet its deadline last December, it sought an extension, and the city has been in negotiations with the company ever since.
"They requested a shutdown for the winter and pulled out," he said.
He said that because the contract is in mediation, the city cannot say much about the situation.
A representative of Kinkaid also said the company cannot comment on a contract in mediation.
Solomon said the fencing being taken down is part of them pulling back from the contract.
"They've told the fence company to get their stuff, they're not paying for it," he said.
Jensen said that while the mediation is ongoing, the city is taking care of the infrastructure. The city is putting materials that are on the ground waiting for construction into city storage, as much as it can, and is putting up its own fencing around materials and holes and excavations.
He said the rental company notified the city it would be coming to take its fencing.
"We just regrouped," Jensen said. "We just made sure that nobody could get hurt or fall in one of those."
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