Delta Regional Airport Authority: Construction company penalized $60,000 for delay.

Members of the Delta Regional Airport Authority agreed to seek a $60,000 penalty against the contractor responsible for the second phase of dirt work at the airport construction site Thursday during a meeting at the Colt Community Center.

FORREST CITY, Ark. (AP) — The commission that oversees the Delta Regional Airport near Colt in eastern Arkansas has voted to penalize a construction company $60,000 for delays in completing a construction project.

The Times-Herald in Forrest City reports that the Delta Regional Airport Authority voted 7-0 Friday for the penalty against Rose Construction of Covington, Tenn., which completed the grading and drainage work during the summer, 60 days past their allotted time to complete the project.

Blake Roberson of Garver Engineers, which is overseeing construction of the airport, said the 60 days was settled upon after factoring in time allowed for suspensions of work due to weather and other factors. Roberson told the board that the contract with Rose Construction allowed for a penalty of up to $1,000 per day for each day over the allotted time limit.

Roberson said Rose Construction officials will be invited to the October board meeting if they want to appeal the penalty.

John Kerr, DRAA chairman, said there were several days in the process when the company could have been working at the Colt site but prioritized other projects for completion, a sentiment echoed by Roberson. Board member Shannon Hobbs, who works in the Colt area, said he could recall several days early in the process when he felt work could have been taking place but equipment wasn't moving.

"They came in here heavy and brought all of their equipment and everything. It looked like they were going to work, and then all of a sudden there was nothing going on out at our site. It was like John said, they had something else to do and went and took care of that when they could have been working. There were a lot of pretty days they could have been working when there was nothing going on," said Hobbs.

Roberson told the board that Garver officials have catalogued the work and progress from the beginning of the contract and said he could provide the board with a list of days when work was not taking place.

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