Contractor complains to commissioners (05/20/08)

An excavating contractor removed from a county job Monday complained to Jay County Commissioners Monday afternoon about county engineer Dan Watson.

R. Davis and Sons Excavating had been working on installing a 50-foot long, six-foot diameter tube under county road 600 South about a mile and a half west of U.S. 27 last week, a job that was delayed in part by rain.

Clint Davis told commissioners he was under the impression that there was no rush to complete the job and was surprised when Watson took the company off the project earlier that day.

"We could have had it open Wednesday," Davis said, complaining that LPI and TJ's Concrete get a disproportionate amount of the county's excavating work.

R. Davis is on a list of local contractors approved for work on bridge and road projects, but the decision on which contractor to use is left to the county engineer.

"I'm not going to micromanage his office," commissioner Milo Miller Jr. said.

"We'll let him know you aired your views," said commissioner Gary Theurer.

"We're on the list and we expect to keep doing them," said Davis. "We're not gonna be railroaded out."

In other business, the commissioners:

•Received a report from the New InterUrban that showed 10,631 trips were made by the rural transportation service in Jay County during the first quarter of 2008. The report noted an increased demand for school transportation within the city limits of Portland.

•Noted their next meeting would be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 27, because of the Memorial Day holiday.

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