Countywide : Firm Hired to Finish Lot, Road at Airport

Seven weeks after stripping the prime John Wayne Airport contractor of a $25-million parking lot and road project, county supervisors voted Tuesday to replace the firm with another company working at the airport.

The action was taken without any comment or objection from any of the supervisors, who approved the proposal unanimously. It has met with furious opposition from Taylor Woodrow Construction California Ltd., however, which filed suit in May, claiming that its removal from the project was an illegal breach of contract.

Despite filing that action, Taylor Woodrow has not served the county with it, and the company continues to press ahead with the terminal construction. That $62-million project is scheduled for completion in August so that the airport can open Sept. 16, months behind schedule.

Under the board action Tuesday, the county will pay no more than $1.6 million to complete the unfinished road and parking garage contract that Taylor Woodrow lost in May. Irvine-based McCarthy Brothers construction company, which built another airport parking structure, has been brought on to finish the job.

In a July 6 letter to the county, Taylor Woodrow officials argued that $1.6 million is “incredibly excessive” and estimated that the project could be finished for $254,000 to $440,000.

Supervisors and county staff, however, say that Taylor Woodrow’s estimates are incorrect and that a “vast” amount of work remains to be done. While Taylor Woodrow says it completed 98% to 99% of the job, the county says the figure is closer to 90%.

Money for completing the project will come from fines levied against Taylor Woodrow for late work and from funds being retained for the job’s completion and so will not put the $310-million airport project over budget, said Stephen J. Blanchard, an aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the airport.