Police building claims at $22M

Darleene Barrientos

The new Glendale Police Headquarters, already nearly two years behind

schedule, might result in expensive litigation -- $20 million in one

case -- for the city. And no date has been set for the department to

move into the building.

A claim for an additional $20 million was filed by the project’s

general contractor, Ray Wilson Co., demanding payment for work that

had to be done outside the scope of the original contract. A claim

must be submitted to a city before a lawsuit can be filed.

At least two lawsuits by subcontractors demanding more than $2

million from the city also have been filed, City Atty. Scott Howard

said.

Subcontractors Rutherford Co. Inc., which worked on the building’s

drywall installation, and ISEC Inc., which did much of the carpentry,

filed notices with the city of Glendale and Ray Wilson Co., claiming

they were not paid for their work, according to court records. The

city has withheld the funds, which total about $2.3 million, and

probably will resolve those lawsuits out of court, Howard said. He

declined to give specifics on how the lawsuits will be settled.

The disputes stem from the extra time it has taken to finish the

building, which meant extending the contracts of several consultants

including Koury Inspection & Testing Inc. of Gardena; Vanir

Construction Management of Los Angeles; and Cannon Design Architects

of Los Angeles. The revised contracts have cost the city hundreds of

thousands of dollars in revisions.

The original cost of the building was $33.6 million. Recent cost

estimates are between $35 million and $40 million.

“The city and Ray Wilson have some significant disagreements and

fundamental differences in regard to what each party is obligated to

under the contract,” said Chuck Gossage, an attorney representing Ray

Wilson Co.

Ray Wilson Co. is demanding $20 million from the city for what it

believes were project delays and work done outside the scope of the

original contract. The work done was too numerous to detail, Gossage

said, adding that during the past three years, the city asked for

1,100 change orders.

The police department just wants to move into the building, Budget

Administrator Jay Kreitz said. But with security, phone and

public-address systems still down, it is not possible to allow the

more than 300 people who work for the department to move in. Police

and city officials declined to estimate when the building will be

ready.

Most buildings can have construction workers doing finishing

touches as employees work, but not a police station, Kreitz said.

Thousands of finishing touches are needed and workers at a police

station need to be watched and escorted everywhere they go, Kreitz

said.

“Who would watch them?” he said.