WINTON – Construction delays in the Tunis Wastewater Collection System translates into cost overruns for the project.

However, those extra funds will not come from the pockets of Hertford County taxpayers.

The Hertford County Board of Commissioners approved two actions on the project during their regularly scheduled meeting here Monday – amending the engineering services agreement as well as approving a resolution that extended the bond anticipation note (the county’s $307,000 share of the $2.14 million project).

“We extended the final completion (of the work) at our last meeting,” Hertford County Manager Loria Williams reminded the commissioners who had adjourned from their regular duties and reconvened as the Tunis Sewer District Board. “That caused the engineering firm to go above and beyond their original contract. This means additional dollars for the county (for the extension).

“This (added cost) may or may not be reimbursed by USDA,” Williams said. “When I asked the engineering firm was this covered (by USDA), he said historically they (USDA) does cover that and deems that as an allowable reimbursement. But that’s not necessarily a given.”

Still, Hertford County is in need of the engineering services for a period of time while the contractor finishes the work at Tunis.

“USDA can look at this as a cost overrun, or whether we have money left over,” Williams noted. “Right now we’ve only used $3,000 of the $80,000 in contingency funds for this project. Hopefully we will have contingency monies available at this point in time, but that must be approved by USDA.”

Either way, Williams said the county has no choice other than paying upfront the extra engineering fees ($8,022) due to the contractor missing its original completion deadline for the sewer project.

Murfreesboro attorney Chuck Revelle, legal counsel for Hertford County, reminded the board that Sunland Builders (the project’s general contractor) “asked for significant additional time (to complete the project) and you (commissioners) gave them a portion (18 work days) of that request.”

The additional time ended Feb. 3. Beginning today (Feb. 4), Sunland Builders is liable, according to the contract, to pay liquidated damages to the county of $700 per day until the project is 100 percent completed.

“We now have additional expenses (with the engineering firm), so part of the liquidated damages money can be used for that as well as the money it will cost to extend the bond note on this project,” Revelle said. “The funds from the liquidated damages should be more than enough to cover the additional expenses. We will not know what those damages will amount to until the contractor finishes the job.”

Williams was asked by this newspaper following the meeting if she had an idea of when the project will be 100 percent completed. She said that timetable was unknown at this time.

The board voted in favor of adding $8,002 to the project to cover the additional engineering fees caused by the contractor’s extension.

Additionally they approved a resolution to extend the project’s bond anticipation note. Revelle explained that process.

“The bonds were authorized to be sold to cover the amount of county expenses ($307,000) not covered by the USDA grant,” he said. “Those bonds are issued when the project was closed out, but the bond anticipation notes, which are approved by the LGC (Local Government Commission) come due Feb. 26. It was anticipated originally that this project contract, if completed on time, everything would have closed out on Feb. 26.

“Because of the additional time that the contractor is taking, we are not in the position to issue the bonds until the project is closed out. We have to extend the notes until June 25,” Revelle added.

The resolution, approved by the board, did extend those notes until that time. However, the extension brings added costs.

“There will be some added interest costs due to extending this for four months, but like the added engineering costs,  these costs will be covered by the liquidated damages assessed against the contractor for the project being late,” Revelle stated.

He added that the resolution was necessary in order for county officials to formally request of the LGC that they issue notes by Feb. 25 to pay off the $307,000 that’s due Feb. 26.

“Basically, this extends our financing by four months, so that the project can be completed, so that the final bonds can be issued,” Revelle noted.

The project got off to a slow start following a ground-breaking ceremony held in May of last year. The original timetable called for construction of the lines, manholes and pumps to be completely installed by January of this year. The water-tight system would then need to be tested for any possible leaks prior to coming online (hook-ups to residences) by the spring of 2014.

Primary funding for the project has come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($1.329 million), along with funds from NC Rural Center ($500,000) and general obligation bonds ($307,000).

For many in Tunis, a small community on the shores of the ChowanRiver that sees a population boom when the weather turns warmer, the wait has lasted for more than 10 years for an answer to their wastewater woes. Tunis residents have experienced problems with private septic systems; some did not have one at all, rather “straight piping” raw sewage into inappropriate containers and hauling it offsite. Those environmental concerns were discovered in the spring of 2008, prompting the State of North Carolina to issue notices of violation against some Tunis residents using the “straight piping” method.

Additionally, environmental health personnel also learned in 2008 there were existing septic systems too close to the water, meaning they did not meet setback requirements for such systems.