City, others settle with Boyds

By Nate Smith Washington Times-Herald

WASHINGTON — A proposed settlement with the city of Washington and Boyd and Sons Excavating is being finalized. The settlement, voted on at Monday’s City Council and Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, would see the city paying the local company over $650,000 for work they did three years ago. The company would also get $195,000 from Midwest Engineers and $25,000 from Alt and Witzig Engineering, if all parties agree to the settlement. “The project’s done, it’s working,” Mayor Larry Haag said. “It’s over and we are going to move forward.” The four were in litigation as part of a 2006 construction project on the city’s west side, near Cosby Road. The project was for an enclosure of a ditch, but in 2007, CSX found the construction method of “jack and bore” near its tracks could not work and pulled its permit to let the city continue. The city later had to tunnel under the railroad tracks to connect the basins with its wastewater plant, at an added cost. Boyds sued the city and the engineering firms to collect that payment. City Attorney Jeff Norris told the council that with the settlement, all parties would be released from any wrongdoing and no would admit to any fault. “It is my understanding the project is completed,” Norris said. The city, if the agreement is signed, would pay Boyd and Sons $25,000 and $18,750 when the company repairs some underground pipe and paves parts of Cosby Road. The money for the work, including the $610,000 payment, will not come from the city’s current budget, but from the 2007 bond from the project. Haag said the money had been set aside when the case would eventually be settled. Councilmen did not say much when they passed the settlement on to Public Works for final approval. “I’m glad to see it done,” Councilman Joe Fleck said. Haag added, “At the very beginning, I wanted to see everyone share in the cost of this and we have done that,” Haag said. A message was left with a representative of Boyd and Sons for comment. In other business POLICE WAGES Members of the Washington Police Department presented their wage and benefit proposal for upcoming budget discussions. Capt. Tim Guy of the department said officers would like a 3 percent pay raise or three more personal days. The department would also like another officer to replace an officer that left the department in March. The position has not been filled. “We are shorthanded right now,” Guy said. “With the three guys we have in the (military reserve), it creates a burden.” Also asked for was a raise of compensation hours from 40 to 80 maximum and a raise in extra detail work from $20 to $25. Haag said there will be announcements on budget hearings in the near future. ORDINANCES The council heard the introduction of two ordinances. The first was a change to make the first deputy clerk-treasurer’s salary to partly come from utilities. The deputy has been paid from utilities in the past. Clerk-Treasurer Elaine Wellman said the ordinance was needed to “clean up” older books. The second was to create a cash change fund at the Waterworld of Washington. Both ordinances will be up for vote at the next council meeting on July 26. COPYRIGHT LICENSING The city has been receiving letters from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers asking the city to enter a license agreement for its music at festivals, parks and other uses. ASCAP, one of the largest music royalty associations in the country, wanted to charge the city $305 a year. “This is very commonplace,” Norris said. Since the city does not play music other than at Eastside Park during Christmas, the council unanimously voted to send the association a letter saying “No.” ESCROW AGREEMENT The council and Public Works unanimously voted to start an escrow agreement with the Daviess County Development Corporation on its Neighborhood Stabilization Project. The DCDC will, under the agreement, hold title to the homes while they are being renovated by grant funds. After the homes are renovated, the title will return to the city. “It allows us to stay on track (with construction schedules,)” Norris said. STREET REQUESTS The board heard a request to put up a yield sign at Cottonwood Court. Residents asked for a stop sign due to traffic on SR 257, but Evans felt a yield sign was sufficient due to low traffic in the area. Darrell Smith, 313 S.E. Seventh St., asked for a resident handicapped space in front of his home to use his ramp. The board approved both requests.

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