By VINCE REMBULAT

The Bulletin

The Roadrunner Drilling & Pump Company recently completed work on water well No. 19.

The cost was $307,000, which was considerably less than the contract figure of $537,000.

“What happened to the other $230,000?” asked Mayor Leo Zuber at the August Ripon City Council meeting.

According to Engineering Supervisor James Pease, Woods Rogers Inc., which helped with the original design and the site, had plans of having two wells drilled – one targeting the upper aquifer and the other targeting the lower.

But once testing occurred, it was determined that the lower aquifer wasn’t adequate to support the lower well while the upper was extended while remaining as a good candidate for a single well, Pease noted.

Originally, he said the contract was for $460,000. But that price went down to $307,000 for just the one well.

“Then additionally there was a change order for $77,000,” Pease said. “In speaking with the land owners, they were originally okay with the well site and having their wells shut down.

“But then, after the digging occurred, they decided they did not want the wells to be replaced.”

That $77,000 was taken out of Roadrunner’s contract.

Elected leaders approved the completed work of Roadrunner with the savings.