The Paving Standoff
A contractor’s request for more time to finish Pacific Avenue work is met with skepticism and a demand for better accountability.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Pacific Avenue paving proposition was brought before the council again last night. The recommendation that Contractor Keasal be given an extension of time until November 1 called forth an inquiry from Councilman Bellingham. 'If we grant this extension,' said he, 'what assurance have we that he will complete the work by that time?' Contractor Keasal, through his attorney, Judge Parker, had offered to provide a bond for the completion of the contract or payment of demurrage if the extension were granted. However, the bond signer was out of town, and the council decided to lay the proposition over for one week rather than approve it unconditionally.
“If we grant this extension, what assurance have we that he will complete the work by that time?”
City infrastructure projects and the management of contractors remain a perennial source of friction in Tacoma. The tension between the need for speed and the fiscal prudence of holding contractors to their promises is a story as old as the city's first paved roads.
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