Restoring some landscape that was disturbed due to two watermain breaks is going to cost the Village of Lake Orion $650, not the original estimate of $5,000.
The first break occurred last June at a home on Cedar Bend in the Robertson subdivision. The village’s DPW repaired the leak, restored, replanted and replaced the landscaping and lawn area disrupted by the work done.
It was DPW Superintendent John Ranville’s opinion the problem probably occurred when the system was installed by the developer.
A month later, DPW employees were called to the same home because of another leak.
“This time the damage was caused as a result of a faculty corporation, a device that connects the house water line to the village’s watermain,” LO Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel said.
When the second leak happened, Robertson representative Ron Phillips told Van Tassel, he would take care of the landscaping restoration if the village would repair the watermain.
When Phillips found out about the faulty corporation, he thought the village should take care of everything.
“The watermain was approved by Hubbell, Roth & Clark (village engineers). It passed all the tests and it’s lasted two years,” he said at the council meeting on Oct. 14.
According to Van Tassel, she was told by Ranville that the faulty corporation was the village’s responsibility.
Phillips did offer to get one bid for fixing the landscaping in September and that was for $5,000.
“Most of the work proposed by the company who bid on the work was outside the disturbed area and involved items that didn’t have anything to do with the watermain repair,” Van Tassel said.
After a meeting at the house with the homeowner, Phillips, Van Tassel, Ranville and LO Village Clerk Arlene Nichols, village officials determined the village should only be responsible for replanting some bushes, putting sidewalk pavers back where they belong, putting landscaping rocks back in their original spot and resodding the lawn in the work area.
Fourteen requests for bids were sent to area landscaping companies. Responses were received from three. Bids ranged from $2,700 to $650.
The contract was awarded to Heritage Farm for $650. The village’s insurance carrier said it would not cover the repair work.