Putnam Moves On Peekskill Hollow Road Project 'Disaster'

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — As county officials scramble to fix the thoroughly screwed up project to rebuild three bridges and construct culverts on a section of Peekskill Hollow Road, lawmakers this week voted to authorize an option to bond up to $4 million to cover additional costs incurred as a result of the failure of the original contractor.

Friday, Putnam County sent formal notice to Arben Group LLC that its contract has been terminated for its failure to meet its obligations.

Wednesday, at the direction of County Executive Kevin Byrne, the remainder of the project was published as a new bid to ensure a new responsible contractor will recommence work and complete the project as soon as possible.

"This administration is doing everything it can to make sure this project moves forward as responsibly and as quickly as possible, while ensuring the safety of residents traveling along Peekskill Hollow Road," Byrne said in a statement. "We recognize residents are frustrated, and I share that frustration. We’ve been tracking issues with this project and working toward a resolution since before I even took office. This project has been going on for far too long, and we need to move forward."

Since Jan. 1, the new administration has held numerous meetings exploring the possibility of salvaging the project. Byrne met with senior representatives of Arben and their counsel on Jan. 31 and they discussed potential paths forward and ways to recommence work.

County officials said Arben's proposal was unworkable as it would have fundamentally changed the scope of work and would have risked the county’s ability to receive State and Federal monies that were committed to fund up to 90 percent of the project.

The Arben Group then filed notice of claim that they plan to sue. Arben officials declined to comment but provided Patch with a copy of the notice. It alleges, among other things, that the previous administration was unable or unwilling to enforce its agreement with local utilities for pole and wire relocation along the affected part of the road, failed to properly investigate the presence of underground utilities (a mile of live Verizon wires were found by Arben when digging), failed to acknowledge its amendment of the contract to push the completion date to August 2023, and kept providing outdated or incorrect NYSDOT specifications.

The Byrne administration has retained the Harris Beech law firm, which specializes in construction law, to explore all legal remedies.

Meanwhile, bids on a new contract are currently being accepted and will continue to be accepted through May 24. The compressed three-week timeline for the bid period, which could normally take 6 to 8 weeks, is permitted by the New York State Department of Transportation.

To reach a larger pool of bidders in a shorter amount of time, advertisements have been placed in more publications than legally required, including online publications (Bidnet and the New York State Contract Reporter), they said.

That speaks to the importance of this project’s timely success, county officials said.

It's going to be more expensive than the $13 million originally budgeted for the project, officials acknowledged.

The project is to be primarily funded through NYSDOT, and the county has kept NYSDOT apprised of all updates on the termination and bidding process. The State will continue to work with Putnam County and the new contractor once one is chosen, county officials said.

The County Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with outside counsel, is also actively exploring all potential legal options to recover any increased costs over the initially budgeted amount.

The previous administration entered into an agreement with Arben in May of 2021 and problems quickly arose before work even began. Rather than terminating the contract, the previous administration chose to keep working with Arben, county officials said.

Now, nine months past the initial completion date of Aug. 4, 2022, the project is less than 25 percent completed, county officials said.

In addition, during one of the mildest winters in a decade, Arben completely walked off the job in mid-December, county officials said.

Meanwhile, holes dug in the road in 2021 are still covered with metal plates, drainage continues to be a problem, disrupted old staging areas dot the road and piles of dirt overhang the Peekskill Hollow Brook.

"The fire department, the ambulance corps, the school district and the residents have been affected," Legislator Bill Gouldman said during a meeting of the legislature's Physical Services Committee April 18.

"It's not safe for anybody," Putnam Valley Town Supervisor Jacqueline Annabi said during the meeting. "This is a disaster."

She said the previous administration continually brushed off requests and offers from local officials, including about utilities. "I want to say this administration has been fantastic. I want to thank you very much for answering my calls," Annabi said.

During the legislative committee meeting, some county officials said they believed the contractor was in bad financial shape and was looking to gouge the county.

Based in Pleasantville, the Arben Group has ties to former President Donald Trump: one of the nine officials named on its LinkedIn profile, Carl Higbie, a Newsmax program host, was a spokesman for Trump's Great America PAC and has a photo of himself with Trump on his LinkedIn profile.