Contractor asks Jackson aldermen for extension

PR Developers, the Cape Girardeau contractors hired to lay two huge sewer lines in Jackson, is stuck between a rock and a contract.

Mitch Parris of PR Developers approached the Jackson City Council Monday night, saying the rock is just too deep to get the projects done in the 300 days called for in the contract.

He said the rock in some places is 6 to 9 feet deep, although the engineering firm, Horner & Shifrin estimated the rock to be 2 to 2 1/2 feet deep.

He said both the Main Street and Goose Creek interceptor sewer projects have fallen behind schedule, even though he has top-of-the-notch equipment and his men have been working 50 to 60 hours a week on the project.

"We've worked in the snow and the rain and even the ice," Parris said.

On Monday night, he asked the council to give him an extension and consider letting him use explosives to break up the rock.

Currently, the engineer's specifications prohibit the firm from blasting within 300 feet of a structure. He said the places where the rock is the deepest are roughly 150 to 200 feet from a structure.

City administrator Jim Roach warned that changing the rules in the middle of a project might undermine the bidding process. He said that other firms who bid on the project may have allotted for such snags.

Parris said he bid the project on the information he was given, much like many other projects in the past. He said he feels he should be given more time based on the changed site conditions.

Mayor Paul Sander directed Roach to contact Horner & Shifrin and see what the St. Louis firm recommended.