Final Notice Going to 'Shoddy' Amphitheater Contractor

Memorial Day is right around the corner and Forks Township is gearing up for its summer concert and movies in the park programs.

And the township will have to do so probably with a "shoddy" amphitheater.

Forks Township officials will send out a final notice to the contractor of the amphitheater to ask one last time that repairs need to be made to the canopy and concrete steps.

"I would be shocked if the contractor reappears," solicitor Karl Kline said.

Officials believe they will probably have to terminate the contract and go out to bid on the repairs themselves. But time is ticking and those fixes might not be ready by summer's start.

The contractor is being given until May 31 to respond.

"The first step is the final notice," Supervisor David Billings said. "A formal letter covers all our bases. This is our final attempt to resolve this."

Billings said following the proper channels would be important if the matter ends in a lawsuit.

"The court will appreciate that," he said.

But former Supervisor Bonnie Nicholas, who is running in Tuesday's primary election, said the issue should have never gotten to this point.

"This canopy should have never been allowed to be patched," she said. "I hope we've learned our lesson."

For nearly a year now, Forks officials have dealt with "shoddy" work done by the contractor of the amphitheater, which the township uses for its Sounds of Summer concert series and for Forks Community Days.

At issue is fixing two panels that are covered with temporary patches and pouring concrete to fill cracks.

Supervisor Dan Martyak was disgusted by what he heard at Thursday night's meeting.

"We need to learn from this," Martyak said. "This is our own fault. We deferred this to infinity."

Township officials are also concerned that they might have a solid case in court since the township has already used the amphitheater for a whole summer and will be doing so again this year.

"I questioned this when we started," Supervisor Bob Egolf said. "We have the statement of occupancy."

Egolf also said that Forks can't postpone its summer concert series since contracts have been signed and deposits paid to bands.

"This could become quite the money pit," Supervisors Chairman Erik Chuss said.