 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
New racquetball courts drag toward completion
By DAN DeWITT BROOKSVILLE -- The city of Brooksville's racquetball courts are just about complete. The contractor, R.A. Schweickert of Inverness, finished up the last of its jobs, painting, on Thursday. All the courts lack before opening to the public are lights, City Clerk Karen Phillips said. Compared with many other public construction projects, the result and price are relatively modest; the square, green building -- about the height of a two-story house -- cost the city $82,000. The building is remarkable, though, as a symbol of dawdling on public projects. "It's amazing to me, the whole scenario," Phillips said. "It's like (the project) has some kind of aura around it." Schweickert was originally hired nearly a year ago. The city has been talking about building new courts since December 1996, when the nearby Quarry Golf Course was completed. The old courts jut into the fairway of the first hole, parks and recreation director David Pugh said at the time, and he planned to rebuild them elsewhere at Tom Varn Park as soon as possible. "We've been bouncing this racquetball thing around for years," said City Council member Joe Johnston III. The job was delayed because of other pressing projects, including the Jerome Brown Community Center and an adult softball complex, Pugh said last year. Once Schweickert was finally hired in January to build the courts, the company ran into immediate problems: It could not get the bonding needed to ensure payment to subcontractors and the work done on the project. The city put the job out to bid again, and only Schweickert submitted a proposal. Schweickert was hired after receiving bonding, and began construction in April with two deadlines looming. Schweickert's contract was set to run out on June 22; also, a state grant that was paying for most of the work -- awarded two years earlier -- expired Aug. 30. The city's contract allowed it to fine Schweickert $200 for every day the work extended beyond the term of the contract. When that passed, the city chose not to levy any fines, partly because of fears it would jeopardize the company's ability to complete the work. "We may have felt like we were beating a dead horse," Johnston said. Schweickert said he had been delayed by the heavy rains this summer and by a discovery that the soil contained more clay than expected, meaning workers had to excavate more dirt and bring in more sand. Schweickert, who could not be reached for comment this week, also promised to be finished by the time the state's grant expired. He was not, and the state extended the deadline for the grant until the end of November. Shortly before that deadline passed, Phillips said, she called the state "and said we were having problems." The state said it would let the city slide as long as it had proof the grant money had been spent on a contractor and that the project could pass the state inspection, which Phillips expects next month. Deadlines imposed by the city also came and went. In October, the City Council agreed to fire Schweickert if he did not complete the job by the end of the month. At its first meeting in November, however, Bob Schweickert promised to complete the project by the new state deadline of Nov. 30, and the city agreed to give him another chance. On Dec. 16, the council again decided Schweickert would be terminated if he did not meet what was called a "drop-dead" deadline of noon on Dec. 20. Mayor Richard Lewis decided not to cancel the company's contract because it was so near completion, Phillips said. She and some council members said the city should take a close look at how it supervises construction projects to limit such delays in the future. "I think we've been overly lenient on this one," said council member Joe Bernardini. But Pugh, the parks and recreation director, said he was not especially concerned that the project had dragged on so long. "I guess I don't get excited anymore," Pugh said. "People are still using the old courts, and once this is completed, everyone will be happy." -- Dan DeWitt covers the city of Brooksville, politics and the environment. He can be reached at 754-6116. Send e-mail to dewitt@sptimes.com .
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
