Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Schools

Bill for school's troubles: $950,000

The district will ask the contractor to pay costs linked to construction problems at Homosassa Elementary.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published January 14, 2006

HOMOSASSA - The bills are all in, and the cost of the delays have been added up. The final tally of what school officials figure builder R. E. Graham owes for the Homosassa Elementary School debacle: a whopping $950,000.

Earlier this week, School Board attorney Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick asked the board's permission to study that tally in detail, figure out what Graham should still reimburse the district, and then ask Graham and his bonding company, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company Inc., to pay up.

If they don't, Fitzpatrick wanted permission to go to court to collect.

Without hesitation, the School Board unanimously agreed to, once and for all, settle the last bit of business on the messy construction project, which has dragged on a year and a half longer than originally planned.

School officials had hoped that in the spring and summer of 2004 they would be able to finish and open the new media center and cafeteria at Homosassa, a school that had gone without a significant facility improvement in decades.

But serious building flaws in those additions were revealed in May of that year, sending the district into an all-consuming frenzy to find out how bad the problem was, how to fix it, and how to restore public confidence in the district's building department.

In the months that followed, the district learned that much of the reinforcing rebar and grout had been left out of the walls of the additions, that walls were not attached properly, and that they were not properly connected to the roof structure.

The School Board agreed to allow Graham's firm to fulfill its contract and make the repairs but not without several layers of building professionals overseeing his work. Much of the costs the district shouldered were those overseers.

Fitzpatrick said last week that the services of Central Testing Laboratories cost the district $310,000, and Rimkus Consulting Group, hired as a "third set of eyes," charged another $95,000. Legal fees have cost $50,000, and the school district's maintenance staff, which had to finish the buildings after Graham's crews stopped work, accrued another $60,000 in costs. Portable classrooms needed as temporary cafeteria and office and media center space cost another $50,000.

In addition, the original construction project called for cash penalties against Graham's firm if the project's various phases were delayed. Months and months went by before the buildings were ready for occupancy. Fitzpatrick said the total for those delays is $388,000.

That amount is supposed to pay for intangible costs and he noted, "there are intangible damages out there."

But he also told the board there are some who believe that, if an entity collects the actual costs accrued in a debacle like Homosassa, they might not also be able to receive the intangible cost payment as well.

The school district has already held back $600,000 from Graham on the project, enough to cover all the direct costs the district has already incurred. Still, Fitzpatrick wanted the chance to meet with the district's staff and construction litigation attorney to discuss what they believe is an appropriate amount Graham still owes the district.

Once that happens, Fitzpatrick said he would ask Graham and the bonding company to pay that amount.

Litigation could follow if the firm doesn't meet a predetermined timetable for making that payment. The board's motion gave chairman Lou Miele the authority to initiate that legal action if necessary.

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

[Last modified January 14, 2006, 01:38:14]