Ryan Taylor, president and CEO of Pickering Associates, talks to the Wood County Board of Education about excess dirt at the new Lubeck Elementary construction site that will need to be removed. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG – The Wood County Board of Education spent a significant portion of its meeting Tuesday night wrestling with how to handle tens of thousands of cubic yards of excess dirt at the new Lubeck Elementary construction site.

In a previous meeting, the board had approved a plan to place the dirt in “Area A” at the rear of the property. Ryan Taylor, president and CEO of Pickering Associates, explained that this originally “made a lot of sense at that time to put that value in the property,” but new information has changed the risk profile.

Taylor said the situation grew more complicated when a previously overlooked water feature at the back of the property was reclassified.

Originally thought to be an ephemeral “ditch” that flowed only after heavy rain, Taylor said further field investigation showed continuous water, tying it to a perennial stream

“We need to reclassify that stream as perennial because it has active water,” Taylor said. “Turns out there’s another perennial stream attached to this one that runs through this proposed fill site.”

He said the board had two options: Place the dirt in “Area A” behind the school site, which now involves a perennial stream and complex engineering, that will cost the district even more, or haul the dirt off-site using contractor Jimmie Harper Construction Inc. at a per�’cubic�’yard cost that has recently increased.

Taylor said there is a disagreement over how much dirt is actually on site. One party estimates 44,000 cubic yards, while his team’s drone and survey data suggest closer to 36,000.

The board was going to vote on Jimmie Harper to remove the dirt in the amount of $13.47 per cubic for hauling off up to 44,000 cubic yards of excess material for a total amount not to exceed $592,680, but board member Ron Tice wanted to change that.

“I’d feel better if we just go with the 22,000 cubic yards,” Tice said. “We’ll pay up to 22,000 whatever the $13.40 amount is, then they can come back, and we’ll be more than happy to give the rest.”

Kaleb Lawrence, assistant superintendent of operations, said any delay could cost the district more than just removing the dirt.

He said the potential delay costs are approximately $5,000 per day, $20,000 per week and $70,000 to $80,000 per month.

“I would fully anticipate if we don’t get some sort of resolution … we’ll probably be facing that delay claim, that’s my opinion,” Lawrence said.

“He will weigh every truck. He’ll have every ticket. Mark will sign off. So at the end of the day, if he only hauls off 35,000 cubic-yards, that’s what we’re going to pay for.”

In a 3-2 vote, the board approved Jimmie Harper Construction Inc. to remove the dirt at the $13.47 per cubic yard, with Tice and board member Debbie Hendershot opposing.

Taylor said another major concern is slope stability and repeated “slips” in the fill areas. He said the site subcontractor Cherry River has repeatedly failed to correctly build the slopes along the north side of the property.

“UCCI site contractor Cherry River is struggling to construct the required fill slopes on-site,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately, we’ve rejected them due to slips and they’re going to have to rebuild them again at their cost.”

He said these repeated failures led the design team to increase oversight.

“Our new approach is we’re going to have a full�’time CTL employee out there during this process,” Taylor said.

He said the CTL is the geotechnical engineer who would provide the compaction tests, concrete and asphalt testing, and other materials testing on-site.

Taylor said that while the contractor must warranty its work, the district ultimately assumes the long�’term risk once that warranty ends. He said the contractor warranty would cover any slips up to a year but anything after that would fall to the district.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com