KINGSTON - Ulster County lawmakers will hold a special session, most likely before the end of the month, to reallocate money within the current budget for the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center in order to pay for the completion of the long-delayed facility.
The county also has directed construction management firm Bovis Lend Lease to issue five-day notices to all the contractors on the project to compel them to complete unfinished work.
County Legislator Michael Stock, chairman of the Law Enforcement Center Project Committee, said the five-day notices, which are allowed by contract, provide a window of opportunity for contractors to complete certain assigned tasks. If they fail, the work will be pulled from their contract and given to another contractor. Any contractor that fails to meet the five-day notice will be charged for the successor's work.
"There are contractors that have refused to do what they've been directed to do, because in the contract, we can give a work directive," said Stock, R-Woodstock. "They've refused to do it without looking for additional funding, and it's been part of the problem during this whole process which has delayed the job.
"We're taking the position that we're going to take the work away from them and give it to another contractor to get the work done," Stock said.
In order to finish the Law Enforcement Center - which is 19 months behind schedule and nearly $13 million over budget - Bovis officials said the county probably will have to shift money around within the project's current total budget to make up for anticipated shortfalls in the construction fund, and to pay for Bovis' services.
About $225,000 will need to be shifted from claims contingency and soft (non-construction) costs into construction. This will not require any additional spending above what lawmakers already have approved, but they will have to meet in a special session later this month to vote on the redistribution of funds.
Bovis' Shibel Jabaji said contractors should be able to bring the project to "substantial completion" by the end of December. At that point, the work will be subject to inspection by the project architect, and punchlists will be made of any work remaining.
Architect Steve Bishop of Crandell Associates said if all the contractors reached substantial completion at the same time, it would take about four to six weeks for the project to be fully complete. However, he said, that time frame is largely dependent on what contractors perceive as substantial completion and the amount of work left to be done after the inspection.
Stock asked that before any of the prime contractors' contracts are closed out, they be required to produce lien releases indicating that all subcontractors have been paid in full. Stock said many of the subcontractors are local, and this requirement will ensure that they are paid.
Meanwhile, work is to start Monday to remove water-damaged and moldy ceiling tiles, flooring and wallboard from the building and dispose of it, Jabaji said. Once that is complete, he said, the county can conduct air tests to check for any mold that may remain. Dick White of Bovis said he expects that work to be done before Thanksgiving.
The mold was caused by water getting into the building during heavy, wind-driven rains in early October. Two firms have done mold tests indicating growth to varying degrees, but no comprehensive assessment of the degree and types of mold present in the building has been done.
The Law Enforcement Center, when complete, will house the county's jail and sheriff's office.

©Daily Freeman 2005