Roads throughout Sugar Grove Borough have received a nice, new layer.
Figuring out how much it actually cost isn't proving to be as smooth.
Sugar Grove Borough council tackled that issue during its meeting last week.
The contractor, Suit-Kote, a multi-state firm with headquarters based in Cortland, N.Y., was awarded the contract for the work in the amount of $36,343.42.
Borough council was presented a bill $39,999.76, a difference of $3,636.34.
Borough secretary Karla LoPresti indicated that the majority of the bill, $33,500, will be paid through the borough's liquid fuels allocation. The remaining $6,499.76 would come from the general fund. She said that more of the bill could not be paid with liquid fuels money because there is a minimum balance that needs to be maintained in the liquid fuels account to avoid bank fees.
Councilman Les Lyon said that the company will be coming back to reassess the square footage of the roads to validate the 26,631 feet of paving that they said they performed.
"If their figures are true," Councilman Pete Allenson said, "ethically, we should pay them."
But Councilman Kevin Nicklas pointed out that there is a variable - some of the borough's streets are "unusually wide."
"We need to find out what we owe him" Lyon said.
One place to start is to measure the streets. "We need a list of street measurements," council President Kevin McIntyre said.
Niklas reiterated the importance of measuring width with length. "We've changed some street widths," he said.
"The difference is the estimator's problem," Mayor Dutch Strand claimed.
"Every time they submit estimated yardage, it's inconsistent," Niklas noted. "I don't mind paying for services rendered, but not until it's verified."
Allenson noted that they "should get him down here and solve it." Niklas said that the company indicated that they would measure the streets with members of council in order to obtain accurate numbers.
"How about a little compromise," Councilman George Wilson said, offering a motion that approved payment of the original bid amount with a meeting to discuss the overage in the coming weeks. The $3,636.34 difference will be "reserved until verified by the Streets, Roads and Bridges Committee," according to the motion.
The measure passed unanimously.