GLENDALE : Contractor Sues City Over Fire Station Bill

The contractor that built Glendale’s new Fire Department headquarters and fire station is suing the city for more than $1 million, claiming that the city failed to reimburse the company for earthquake repairs, cost overruns and design changes.

McCormick Construction Co. of Burbank completed work on Fire Station 21 at Columbus and Oak streets in April. The company was paid $7.7 million for the job, but its expenses added up to about $8.8 million, company President Jack McCormick said.

“There was a tremendous amount of additional work and change order work requested by the city, which was completed under the city’s authorization,” McCormick said.

“We just simply want to be paid for the work that we and our subcontractors did. We finished the building and the city is occupying it, but they still have everybody’s money.”

According to the lawsuit, filed late last year in Glendale Superior Court, the company is seeking $367,000 for cost overruns that involved corrections to design plans, about $240,000 for repairing damage caused by the Jan. 17 earthquake and $273,800 in change orders. The company is also seeking about $259,000 in damages, plus attorney’s fees.

McCormick said that while trying to work things out with the city, he waited seven months before filing suit. He said that the two parties held an unsuccessful settlement conference, and that his company offered to settle the matter for a reduced sum but was rejected by the city.

Glendale City Atty. Scott Howard said there is a gap between the amount the company is demanding and the amount the city thinks that it should pay, although he would not disclose what the city is willing to pay.

“We obviously have a difference of opinion with regard to the amount of compensation they are entitled to,” Howard said. “They claim a certain amount and we claim they’re not entitled to that amount.”

Howard said the city will continue negotiating with the company for an out-of-court settlement.

A pretrial conference in the case is scheduled in June in Glendale Superior Court.

Fire Station 21 is a modern brick building that includes a community meeting room, the Fire Department’s offices and an area where an antique fire engine is on display. It also houses Verdugo Dispatch, the radio communications center for the fire and police departments of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.