By BRIAN McGILLIVARY
bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com
July 01, 2009 10:28 am TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County will pay $10,000 to kick-start a probe of professional negligence by developers of the county septage treatment plant. The county board's decision on Tuesday came less than a week after its members rejected a $5,000 contribution toward the investigation but promised instead to pitch in $1,666. On Tuesday, though, the board voted 5-4 to up its funding offer over concerns the previous decision could stall the investigation by up to two months. "The public wants an answer to this debacle and I think we need to take a leadership role," Commissioner Mike Stepka said. Commissioners Beth Friend, Larry Inman, Christine Maxbauer and Ross Richardson joined Stepka to pass the funding motion. Commissioners Addison Wheelock Jr., Larry Fleis, Dick Thomas and Bruce Hooper voted against funding the probe, repeating their June 24 votes. Tuesday's vote scrapped a previous requirement for matching contributions from five local townships that oversaw septage plant construction and guaranteed $7.8 million in bonds to pay for it. The county's Board of Public Works wants to hire engineers and attorneys to investigate whether former BPW attorney and project manager Michael Houlihan and engineering firm Gourdie-Fraser Inc. committed professional negligence over faulty septage volume projections. The plant is oversized and faces a projected $2.4 million shortfall over the next five years because septage flow numbers are far below what developers estimated. The probe would also will consider if the design-build firm of Gourdie-Fraser/Christman LLC owe up to $500,000 in penalties for not substantially completing the plant on time. A tank at the plant collapsed in 2005 a month after opening. The facility still isn't completely finished. Union Township Supervisor Doug Mansfield said the investigation is necessary if the county wants support from the rural townships to help solve the plant's financial woes. "This is not going to move ahead ... in the rural townships until accountability is brought to the project through this review," Mansfield said. Board of Public Works chairman and Blair Township Supervisor Pat Pahl said he will call special meetings of the county's sewer and water committee and BPW to facilitate quickly hiring a downstate engineering firm to begin the investigation. Pahl ruled out hiring a Traverse City firm. "The tentacles of local politics are too deep to have an independent review," Pahl said. Fleis, of Blair Township said the investigation is unnecessary. "I think it's absolutely absurd that we even have this motion on the floor tonight," Fleis said. "These are all public meetings, public facts. If somebody is so curious, why don't they get off their duff and start reading from day one, because that's exactly what whoever you hire is going to do. Why should we pay somebody?"
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