HUTCHINSON, Kan. — An inquiry was sent to Hutch Post as to why it appears that work has stopped on the Farmington Park project. City Manager Gary Meagher said in an email that the same contractor is working for the city in two places at once.
"Ward Davis is the contractor for the Farmington Park project and the Zoo Nature Play project," Meagher said. "Since he is doing the work on the two projects for the city he is splitting his time, based upon the work that needs to be done and the scheduled completion times of the projects."
Davis is waiting for the new shelter for Farmington Park to arrive. Once it does, he will be setting and assembling it and starting the concrete work.
The reason the dirt work was started so far ahead of delivery is because it worked out with the dirt contractor’s schedule to do it at that time. Had that not been the case, the dirt work would likely have been done closer to the time the shelter parts arrived and the concrete work was started.
When contractors are working with their subs they have to schedule the work when they can get it done to make sure that they can keep the project moving and they can meet the deadline.
Davis told Meagher he should be back to the Farmington Park project within 3 weeks to a month. His completion date for Farmington Park project is April 2023, so he should have time to complete it before the deadline.
"I have worked with Ward Davis on city and county projects for many years and found him to be reliable and responsive," Meagher said. "I am confident that he will do all that he can to meet the deadline and will likely finish early."