A large pothole in the middle of Davos Road made it impassable for more than a week. An H.R. Redmond crew was working on it this week. The crew was also working at opening Mt Hood Drive at the corner of Davos Road.
Ken Smith/Turnagain Times photo
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A large pothole in the middle of Davos Road made it impassable for more than a week. An H.R. Redmond crew was working on it this week. The crew was also working at opening Mt Hood Drive at the corner of Davos Road. Ken Smith/Turnagain Times photo |
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
A local contractor in charge of road maintenance and snow removal in Girdwood came under scrutiny by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors during its monthly meeting, Monday Jan. 15. Board member Jim Henderson, who also reports to the board on issues regarding road maintenance in the valley, was especially critical of the company.
The day after the meeting, Henderson expressed his displeasure with H.R. Redmond, a Girdwood based company in its seventh year of road maintenance in the area. Henderson said the company did not meet road maintenance requirements, and he questioned the amount of the bill for the month of December, which came in at a final cost of $103,000.
“They’re billing the community at an astronomical amount,” he said. “We were billed for people working 25 hours on and five hours off, then 17 hours on. Those are ridiculous hours. It’s super human activity, which defies all logic. No time off for meals? We were billed straight.”
Jean Redmond, co-owner of H.R. Redmond, admitted the employees worked long hours, but she said they could handle the workload.
“The guys worked straight through,” she said. “They have the endurance.”
Redmond also stood by the bill the company submitted and said it was a fair price.
“We have done business in this valley for a long time,” she said. “There’s never been a time when we put a bill together to stiff our customer, and we don’t intend to start.”
Henderson added that the company did not notify board members of equipment problems, which he said caused delays in snow removal.
“The contractor has an obligation to tell us but they didn’t,” he said. “They have an obligation to supply us with substitute equipment and ramp up and complete the road service within 12 hours of snowfall.”
Redmond said two hydraulic hoses had to be replaced in the grader, and she said there’s nothing in the contract that states the company has to immediately report any equipment problems to the board. She also said the hoses were replaced within a day of breaking.
“It can’t be done in 15 minutes or an hour,” she said. “We had to go to Anchorage. Often times it doesn’t get done in a matter of minutes.”
During the time the grader was out of commission, Redmond said the company was still working full-time utilizing its other equipment, which includes a one-ton V-plow flatbed, a Dozer, and two front-end loaders. They also acquired a second grader after the first one broke down.
Henderson said the company should have a snowplow instead of relying on graders to clear the roads. But Redmond said a snowplow would not fit down many of the narrow roads in Girdwood.
Henderson also expressed concerns that unplowed roads made it difficult if not impossible for fire trucks and ambulances to respond to an emergency.
“Many roads were impassable,” he said. “It’s been extremely cold and a lot of people are using more heating. If we had a house fire, it probably would have burnt to the ground.”
Redmond said roads were consistently plowed within two days of snowfall, although she admitted the extreme snowfall in December (a record 133 inches at the base of Mt. Alyeska) was difficult to keep up with at times. But, she said, if there was an emergency situation like a house-fire they would have assisted.
“If the circumstances were dire, we would have gotten to it,” she said. “And if somebody told us it was an emergency, we would have been as helpful as we can.”
H.R. Redmond employs three full-time employees and two extras when needed in the winter season. The company was the sole bidder for the 2007 road maintenance contract, and its contract was renewed last November for more than $432,894, a 34 percent increase from the previous year. The hourly rate also increased from $90 per hour to $125 per hour for the grader, and from $90 per hour to $110 per hour for the front-end loader.
However, despite his concerns and criticism of the company, Henderson said the board would work to resolve the issues.
“We’ll try to come up with a plan not to let this happen again,” he said. “If that can’t be done, then we’ll have to find somebody else.”