“Syper Lakeside Park change order” in drive, stories to edit, Dunkirk photos Pictured is Mayville Mayor Rick Syper. He asked the village board to approve a nearly $40,000 change order to Rock of WNY for work done last fall, but the village board wouldn’t approve the payment. P-J photo by Gregory Bacon

MAYVILLE – Village officials’ distrust of the contractor doing the paving at Lakeside Park continues.

During the May Mayville Village Board meeting, officials refused to approve a nearly $40,000 change order for work done in October.

Rock of WNY Inc. in Westfield was awarded a paying contract for Lakeside Park with Barton & Loguidice doing the engineering and overseeing the contractor.

The entire project is expected to cost $900,000. It called for improving the landing plaza near the Chautauqua Belle, and installing a waterfront pedestrian and bicycle trail. There were also plans to install a handicapped-accessible kayak launch, however that has been temporarily paused, due to increased costs.

Rock of WNY, Inc. started the paving last year and is required by the contract to complete the work by June 30. If they don’t, the company could be fined $1,500 a day.

Mayville officials complained last month about the quality of the work done so far, as well as the “poor paperwork.”

In April, the village board had a special meeting with a representative from Barton & Loguidice regarding Rock of WNY. That representative said Rock of WNY has not been filing out the paperwork in a timely manner but that the change orders that had previously been filed were appropriate.

The representative vowed to regularly communicate with Rock of WNY owner Rob Hetrick to make sure the work gets done properly and on time.

Mayville Treasurer Jennifer Obert said she is cc’d on every email that Barton & Loguidice sends to Hetrick and added that they have been reaching out to him daily if not multiple times a day.

Mayor Rick Syper said this change order was actually requested so Rock of WNY could pay JMI for materials used. JMI has apparently threatened legal action against the village if they weren’t paid, but Syper said the village can’t pay them directly; they must pay Rock of WNY and then Rock of WNY would pay them.

Syper added that JMI’s letter about them not being paid has been sent to the bonding company, on the advice of the village attorney.

Syper said there is also the possibility that JMI will request a public lien be placed against Rock of WNY. Should that happen, it would ensure JMI gets paid when Rock of WNY receives a payment.

All of the trustees expressed concerns about the work done so far by Rock of WNY.

Syper said right now the work is incomplete; Rock of WNY has until the end of June to make everything correct.

He added that Hetrick has returned to work on the park, although he has been delayed because of the weather.

Syper is also having DPW Superintendent Dan Engdahl work with Rock of WNY to address any concerns they have.

Syper admits that he is concerned if the work will get done properly or if they’ll have to re-bid the project.

“I’ve asked B&L if they’ve ever had to do this before. They’ve never crossed this road before. I’ve talked to insurance agents about how this works and they said they’ve never had something like this before,” he said.

After the 20 minute discussion, no one on the village board was willing to sponsor the resolution to pay Rock of WNY $39,900 for the change order.

Following the meeting Syper said at some point that the bill will need to be paid. He said he may bring it back up at the next meeting.