WA9701-CS040414April 14, 2004
COFFELL
Gary Hendricks, P.E.
Birkhoff, Hendricks & Conway, L.L.P.
7502 Greenville Avenue, #220
Dallas, Texas 75231
RE: Belt Line Rd./Denton Tap Rd. Water Line (from Bethel Rd. to Airline Dr.)
WA 97-01
Dear Mr. Hendricks:
I recently received Invoice #0001328 dated April 7, 2004 requesting a payment of $209.58.
What caught my attention on this invoice was that it showed that all monies for the design
contract were being paid with this invoice and actually a credit was being provided on the
invoice to keep the total amount invoiced at the contract amount.
Because I was aware that the design is not complete, I audited the financial aspect of this project.
I am somewhat concerned.
The City of Coppell entered into a contract with your firm on April 12, 2002 for the design of the
Belt Line/Denton Tap Water Line (from Bethel Rd. to Airline Drive) in an amount not to exceed
$57,240. That total amount was divided into two sections.
The Basic Services section, in an amount of $38,500, was divided into three phases:
1) Design Phase at $30,800;
2) Bidding Phase at $1,925; and
3) Construction Phase at $5,775.
The Special Services section, in an amount of$18,700, xvas divided into six phases:
I) Design Surveys for $7,680;
2) Construction Surveys for $1,800;
3) Boundary Surveys for $960;
4) Preparation of Easement Documents for $4,000;
5) Printing of Final Plans and Specifications for $1,800; and
6) Geotechnical Evaluation for $2,500.
The first invoice on this project was dated September 30, 2002. To date there have been nine
invoices of which the City has paid and four invoices of which the City has not paid.
My audit of the invoices paid is as follows:
Design Survey - $7,680
To date the City has paid $13,955.72 for two line items, one entitled Design Survey and one
entitled Field Notes and Plat. (Because no easement documents have been prepared, I'm
ssuming the F~eld Notes and Plat" is part of the design survey.)
2. Construction Surveys - $1,800
The City has not paid, nor been invoiced on any items.
3. Boundary Survey- $960
The City has not paid, nor been invoiced on any items.
4. Preparation of Easement Documents - $4,000
The City has not paid, nor been invoiced on any items.
5. Printing of Final Plans - $1,800
The City has paid $821.02; and been invoiced an additional $221.
6. Geotechnical Evaluation ~ $2,500
The City has not paid, nor been invoiced on any items.
When you total the amount the City has paid for Special Services it is $14,776.74. This is
somewhat troublesome given the fact that the construction survey, boundary survey, preparation
of easements documents and geotechnical evaluation totals an additional $9,260. Also, the City
has been invoiced an additional $221 for printing. Therefore, the total amount outstanding under
Special Services is $9,481. When this is added to the amount already paid under Special
Services it brings Special Services to a total of $24,257.74. This is obviously outside the bounds
of the contract amount for Special Services.
Another point of concern under Special Services is the inclusion of printing under Special
Services. The contract clearly states under Basic Services, design phase, that the preliminary
plans and specifications will be printed for review by the City and the utility companies. The
$l,800 assigned for printing, under Professional Services very clearly states that this is printing
of final plans and specifications for distribution to perspective bidders and the successful
contractor. Therefore, it is my opinion that all costs for printing up to the printlng of the final
plans is an included item under Basic Services and should not have been billed separately. This
amounts to $821.02 already paid and an additional $221 invoiced but not paid for a total amount
of printing of $1,042.02, which should have been included under Basic Services.
This brings me to another concern. The invoices show that Basic Services was 100% complete
on the November 10, 2003 invoice in an amount of $30,800. However, based on the last invoice
on this project there is no money left in this project for the other two components of Basic
Services which are Bidding and Construction phases. Those two components of Basic Services
total $7,700, again of which there is no money left in the contract to pay.
In reviewing the invoices, I also noted that beginning with the November 10, 2003 invoice an
item entitled "Redesign" began appearing on the invoices. To date, the City has paid $3,636.42
for redesign and has been invoiced an additional $7,852.65 for a total amount for redesign of
$11,489.07. It was my understanding that the redesign was being handled under the original
contact, but obviously that is not the case. Very clearly, if there was going to be additional
charges for the redesign that should have been handled under a change order to the original
design contract.
Before the invoices from January 21, 2004 through April 7, 2004 are processed by the City
several things need to take place.
1. An amendment to the contract needs to be provided for the cost of the redesign.
2. The printing charged under Special Services should be removed and be included as part of
the Basic Services.
3. There needs to be some detailing of how this project design will be completed, given the fact
that almost all the monies associated with the Special Services has already been paid when
there is still $9,260 of identified items, under Special Services, which have not been paid nor
invoiced.
4. There needs to be some detailing of how the bidding and construction phase will be
completed when all monies on the project have already been spent and there is still $7,700
associated with those two items in Basic Services.
I would appreciate a timely resolution to this letter and the invoices on the project so that we can
move ahead to the completion of design and bidding on this project. If you should have any
questions please contact me at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Kenneth M. Griffin, P.E.
Director of Engineering / Public Works
Office 972/304-3686
Fax 972/304-7041
E-mail