Council Settles Suit Over Tillman Work

The Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay $500,000 on Wednesday to settle a lawsuit by a construction firm that said the city balked at paying for extra work required in part by flooding near the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys.

The payment settles a breach-of-contract claim by Colich Bros., which was hired by the city in 1993 to install flood control features around the Tillman plant to protect it from water that regularly collects in the Sepulveda Basin.

Councilman Mike Feuer said the firm claimed the city did not do enough to prevent flooding of landscaping installed by the firm as part of the contract. The landscaping was damaged and had to be replaced. A company spokesman said the dispute arose after the city refused to pay for extra work it required of the firm to satisfy the terms of the contract.