Taxpayers should not be responsible for poor contractor work

To the Editor, 

As a lowly taxpayer, I have come to understand we seem to be having a tough time getting what we pay for from contractors. 

For instance, the heating system in the Community Building and City Chambers was installed improperly and because of excessive pressure in the system, it caused leaks throughout the building. This was caused by the installation of the wrong size pump. All of the repairs and fixes we taxpayers paid for as I understand it. 

Why was this signed off if the job was done improperly? Shouldn’t the contractor stand by the expense of his poorly done work? Isn’t that why they carry a bond to ensure the work is done right? 

Now comes the Berndes Center, and again, the HVAC that was installed was done improperly and hasn’t worked right since it was installed. So now we are getting an engineer to give us specifics as to what to do in order to bid it again and get it fixed right at a cost of $6,000. 

Again, don’t contractors who do these projects have any responsibility in making their work right when it is done badly? 

It also seems the school board has trouble getting its house in order with what happened to the high school and it looks like the construction of the middle school is also involved in repairs to the high school that again, should have been the responsibility of the contractor who built the high school. 

Somewhere in all this has to be somebody responsible to make sure we taxpayers aren’t getting taken for a ride. If not, then I think we need someone as an ombudsman to protect our interests and start legal proceedings against those who shirk their responsibility.

Steve Hanken

Monticello, Iowa