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Mediation urged for courthouse project

The county's liability attorney lays out a plan to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars lost over drainage problems at the Courthouse Annex.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published September 14, 2005

INVERNESS - Citrus County's liability attorney recommended to commissioners Tuesday that the county should try to recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars lost over drainage woes at the Courthouse Annex by heading into mediation with the project's builder.

Clearwater attorney Alan Zimmet conducted individual meetings with commissioners Tuesday morning to talk about his review of two boxes of documents related to the annex project.

"His message was that they have been looking at the issues and they will move toward mediation before any legal action is taken," Commissioner Joyce Valentino said.

She said that those who will sit at the table for mediation include all of the players involved in the project including contractor Dooley & Mack Constructors, Inc., that firm's engineer Troy Burrell, and Central Testing Laboratories, which provided preliminary soils testing for the county.

Even before the Property Appraiser and Tax Collector moved into the new building in mid 2003, the drainage system wasn't working properly. Then in a heavy rain in June 2003, the site flooded and so did the next-door neighbor John Godowski.

County officials and Burrell faulted Central Testing Laboratory but officials from that firm say Burrell shouldn't have used preliminary soil information to design his system. The Florida Board of Professional Engineers has charged Burrell with negligence, a charge he is fighting. His hearing on that charge is scheduled for Dec. 13.

Commissioner Dennis Damato said he didn't hear anything "earth shattering or different" from Zimmet on Tuesday morning. "The main one he needs to talk to is Dooley & Mack," Damato said. The county's original understanding on the project was that the firm, hired as construction manager, was going to handle every aspect of the job.

"It has cost the taxpayers of Citrus County to resolve some of these issues and it is the county's responsibility to recoup these taxpayers dollars," Valentino said. She said she thinks mediation would take place soon after the commission grants its formal approval.

One large cost not yet paid will be to build wider and deeper drainage ponds on the site and install a piping system to drain water off-site into Lake Henderson.

Lyric Services of Brooksville last month submitted a bid to repair the drainage problem. The $383,000 bid was $203,000 more than what the county originally had budgeted for the project. County staff found additional funding and had prepared to bring the recommendation for approval to the commission on Tuesday.

Commissioners said that bid has been delayed until later this month.

--Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 14, 2005, 02:15:34]