Board Divided on Hiring Former Splash Station Subcontractors

At last week's meeting of the Wentzville Board of Aldermen, the board voted to amend their contract with Gartenberg Construction Consulting for construction oversight of the Splash Station aquatic park project.

The new contract reduces the city's costs from $87,000 to $80,000 because of a reduced scope of services.

However, two additional contracts could push the limits of the contingency fund set for the project.

The additional contracts were approved for two subcontractors—Waters Edge Aquatic Design and Jacobs Engineering—who had previously worked as subcontractors for

The new contracts mean the companies will now be contracted directly by the city and could add up to another $27,000 in costs to the project.

Both Shryock and Ward 1 Alderman Cheryl Kross expressed their objections to the contracts, which they felt lacked limits.

One of the items in question was expenses.

"Do we have any idea what those amounts are going to be?" Ward 1 Alderman Cheryl Kross asked. 

City Administrator Mike McDowell said that he would review the expenses and determine their validity.

Kross also objected to part of the contract that said after the completion date of Sept. 7, the firm would be compensated $145 per hour for any additional work.

City Attorney Paul Rost added, "We don’t call them if we don’t want to spend the money."

"It's like an open pocketbook," Kross said, and she, along with Ward 2 Alderman Sonya Shryock, were the only no votes for the contract.

When discussion started on the contract for Jacobs Engineering, Shryock mentioned a previous contract with the company that had been left open-ended and cost the city a substantial amount of money.

"I feel like I’m being held hostage on this project," Shryock said.

All three contracts were approved.