News

Statement of fraud in street paving project turns out to be incorrect

By Scott Wagar

12/13/2011

This past Monday evening during the Bottineau city council meeting, Alderman Brad Gangl was accused of being fraudulent when it came to additional work he had done on his property during the 2011 Street Paving Project. This week, the Bottineau Courant conducted an investigation into the accusation against Gangl, which appears to find Gangl innocent of any wrong doing.

During the council meeting, Tim Sanderson, who is part of a city committee made up of local residents who are dissatisfied with the way Mayor Doug Marsden, Alderman Troy Marsden and Councilman Brad Gangl are conducting business when it comes to the city, stated that he was informed that Gangl had an additional seven feet of curb, gutter and pavement placed on his side of the street.

According to Sanderson, two weeks ago, he went to Wold Engineering and inquired about how much Gangl was being charged for the asphalt he received for the additional work, which the engineering company stated that Gangl wasn’t being charged for the asphalt.

From Wolds, Sanderson went to Professional Concrete Service (PSC) and made the same inquiry about how much Gangl was being charged for the concrete he received on his additional work. PSC stated that no billing for Gangl was on its list.

This past Monday evening, with the information Sanderson had, he questioned Gangl at the council meeting as to why he hadn’t been charged.
Gangl stated he was being charged for the additional work, but he didn’t know the amount because he hadn’t received the bill yet. At that point, Penny Nostdahl, city auditor of Bottineau, informed Sanderson that she had received the billings from Wold’s on the special projects done this summer in town and stated that Gangl was being charged $93 for the additional work.
Sanderson asked Nostdahl when the billing came, and she stated that it arrived on her desk earlier that day.
On Wednesday morning of last week, the Bottineau  Courant called PSC and spoke with Bruce Bullinger, who had spoken with Sanderson.

“Tim had come in and he asked if Brad was one of the extra people who was charged for extra work outside of the city project,” Bullinger said. “I am the one who sends out invoices when Dan (Longie) tells me to, and I told Tim that I hadn’t seen one. But, that doesn’t mean that Brad didn’t pay it directly to Dan. So, I said I didn’t know and that I hadn’t sent him one.”

The Bottineau Courant then spoke with Longie who owns PCS. Longie stated the fall season is a busy time for him and that he hadn’t had the time to send out a bill to Gangl for the additional work PCS had conducted for him, but that a bill would be sent out to Gangl for the work.  

From PCS, the Bottineau Courant spoke with Matt Johnson, which the newspaper asked if Gangl was being charged the same fee as the other residents were who had additional work done, which Johnson stated Gangl was being charged the same amount.

“Basically what happened is Brad’s curb was seven feet longer. When it was paved, instead of getting paved straight across, it was paved at an angel,” Johnson said. “So, there is basically a triangle piece there that is seven feet long by 36 feet wide. Seven by 36 by a half is 126 square feet, or 14 square yards. So, there was 14 square yards of paving there that was extra, which works out to be three tons of mix used to cover that area. The mix is $30.32 a ton for the contract price. That is where I come up with the $93.”

Phyllis Getzlaff, who lives across from Gangl, was concerned when she discovered what Gangl was going to do this summer with the additional curb, gutter and pavement. She stated that she was worried about how the asphalt would be placed on the street.

She contacted D. Marsden, T. Marsden and Gangl and inquired about what would happen when the work was completed on Gangl’s side of the street.

“They told me that the paving was going to run straight across,” said Getzlaff on Wednesday morning when the Courant spoke with her. “Of course, they lied to me and now I have all this water running on to my property and staying in my yard.”

In an interview with Gangl, he told the Courant that the facts about the special work have not been heard.
“At the beginning of the paving project, I had asked Matt to extend my curb and gutter about seven feet to the telephone pole. About a week or so later, I had second thoughts doing this and I told Matt not to put the curb and gutter in as part of the project. I told him I would talk to PCS and have it done after the project. I also informed the mayor, city auditor and John Truckowski from Wold Engineering of this fact. Obviously PSC was not informed and the extra curb and gutter was put in anyway,” Gangl said. “I did not ask for, or expect, the extra pavement to be put in. The pavement was supposed to go straight across the street from the end of Phyllis’s curb. I had just gotten home from work when Mayo was starting the first lift of pavement on our street. I saw Mayo getting ready and noticed they were too far back and went out to tell them the pavement was to start at the curb across the street but I was too late. I did inform them and Wold Engineering of the mistake and assumed it would be fixed before the final lift. Unfortunately, instead of removing the extra pavement, they decided to angle the pavement from the end of my curb to Phyllis’s curb. I had absolutely nothing to do with the extra pavement."

“Because the work was done, I will pay for it. The extra paving done is billed through the City and is, I believe, already public information,” Gangl added. “The curb and gutter is billed through PSC and would be private, but I will be sure to get a receipt for the work when I pay the bill and make that available for anyone to see.”

Gangl also stated there was no intention of draining water to Getzlaff’s side of the street.

“As far as I can remember, she was concerned about how the street looked and the fact the pavement did not go straight across from her curb. She did ask about a hole at the end of her curb and the fact that water might collect there,” Gangl said. “She was told that the hole would be filled in and as far as I know it has been. The problem with the drainage is that the gravel at the end of the street left from the construction is higher than the street. I would expect this to be graded properly next spring to fix the problem. As you probably are aware, not all the work on the street project was finished this fall and will need to be done this spring."

Johnson stated that work will be conducted on Getzlaff’s side of the street next year to correct the water that is collecting on Getzlaff’s property.  

“We do have to do more landscaping there. The contractor wasn’t able to get back, so it became too late in the year to do the work now. I know that there is some ponding on her side of the street that will have to be taking care of in the spring,” Johnson said. “And, the grading work on that east end of the street wasn’t as good as it should have been. The contractor will need to come back and do some work so it can drain properly there.”

The Bottineau Courant also spoke with Trevor Christenson of Mayo Construction about the street issue between Gangl and Getzlaff.

Christenson stated that he was not aware of this matter, but that work would be done in 2012 to complete the street paving project in Bottineau.

The statements Sanderson made at the council meeting where correct at the time he made his statements. However, since that time, billings for the additional work Gangl received will be sent to him.