ZELIENOPLE — Borough council Monday night fined an area construction company $1,000 for completing storm sewer and water line work on Perry Way more than a month late.

It could have been worse for W.M. Aiken and Sons Excavating of Mars. Borough engineer Tom Thompson calculated that the firm should be penalized $7,500, while the borough’s water committee had come back with a recommendation of a $3,000 penalty.

Council took into consideration that the work, once it was completed, was good. There also was major savings from the original bid price, and council didn’t want to “pile on” to an area construction firm.

Aiken was hired in December to do the work on Perry Way, between Route 19 and Evans Road.

Snow, ice and cold temperatures this past winter hampered the contractor, which finished the work this spring 38 days past the contract completion date.

Councilman Drew Mathew said there should be some liquidated damages because the borough didn’t want to set a precedent for other contracted work projects.

The original bid price for the project was $218,000.

However, when all the final bills were tallied, the actual cost submitted by the contractor was $201,000.

Councilman Russ Robertson said before the vote that even if the borough didn’t fine the company anything, it still was saving $17,000.

The project was supposed to have been done by March 8, but took to early May to complete.

The contract had stipulated the project to be done within 90 days of its signing or the contractor would face a $1,000 per day penalty.

Residents and businesses in the construction area were forced to deal with road closures and avoiding the construction during the project. Work had began Dec. 20.

The work was done in preparation for the larger Main Street water line replacement project, which is to begin in the winter or next spring.