TRAVERSE CITY -- A downstate engineering firm will probe questions surrounding design and construction of Grand Traverse County's troubled septage plant, an effort to determine whether its architects committed professional negligence.
The county's Board of Public Works voted 7 to 1 this week to hire Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Prein & Newhof for up to $19,500 to investigate septage plant design firm Gourdie-Fraser Inc. and project manager Michael Houlihan.
The county's septage treatment fund will foot the bill. The decision to tap that account nipped a possible squabble between county and township officials over who should pay for the probe, a fight that could have delayed an investigation for months.
"I didn't think I'd ever see it happen," said BPW chairman Pat Pahl. "Some people didn't want to see the investigation proceed and sometimes I think they used the money issue to try and stop it."
The plant has been beset by problems virtually since it opened in mid-2005. A wall collapsed a month after it opened and spewed thousands of gallons of septage about the plant grounds. But finances pose the biggest worry for local officials.
The $7.8 million plant was overbuilt because septage flow projection numbers submitted by Gourdie-Fraser turned out to be far overblown. The facility is projected to lose up to $2.4 million over the next five years, and some county officials want to institute an annual $40 tax on all septage tank owners to alleviate financial problems.
The BPW in May voted to conduct an investigation, but action stalled until July, when a divided county board agreed to provide $10,000 to help pay for a probe. Costs beyond that amount were to come from Acme, East Bay, Elmwood, Garfield and Peninsula townships.
Monday's BPW vote, however, allows the investigation to proceed even if the county board decides to pull its contribution.
"It's going to move forward regardless of whether the county flip-flops again and takes its $10,000 back," Pahl said.
County Commissioner Larry Inman said he's fine with the BPW decision.
"Let's just get it done. We need to move this thing forward," Inman said.
Prein & Newhof will determine if engineers at Gourdie-Fraser exercised reasonable care when they over-estimated septage flow. It also will review the actions of Houlihan, BPW's former attorney who resigned this year amid calls for the investigation.
The engineering firm will investigate if Houlihan properly supervised Gourdie-Fraser's flow estimates and if he used reasonable professional care when he certified in May 2005 that the plant was substantially completed. That act freed Gourdie-Fraser and construction firm The Christman Company from fines of up to $500,000 for failing to complete the project on time.
The probe is expected to take up to 60 days. If the results indicate professional negligence occurred, the next step could involve litigation against Gourdie-Fraser and/or Houlihan.
Garfield Township Supervisor Chuck Korn said some local officials are concerned about suing Houlihan.
"Houlihan ran the Department of Public Works for years," Korn said. "There are people out there who do not want to get involved in any sort of action that would include Mr. Houlihan because they are afraid he is the great and powerful Oz, and if you look behind the curtain he will destroy you. They really are scared of him."
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