State pulls plug on vets home contractor

Cy Ryan and Kim Smith

Monday, Aug. 13, 2001 | 11:09 a.m.

A Las Vegas contractor lost its bid Friday to finish a $19.3 million veterans nursing home in Boulder City.

Addison Inc. had asked Clark County District Judge Jeffrey Sobel to issue a temporary restraining order against the Public Works Board to prevent it from removing the company from the project.

Sobel denied the motion Friday during a telephone conference with the parties.

Dan O'Brien, manager of the Public Works Board, said Addison Inc. now has the option of filing for a preliminary injunction, which would permanently bar the state from taking action against Addison Inc.

"But our view is that if they didn't get the temporary restraining order why would they get a full one?" O'Brien said.

The state sought to remove the construction company from the project claiming that it is so far behind that 36 of those who applied to enter the veterans home have died.

Attorneys for Addison Inc. did not return phone calls this morning seeking comment.

Steve Foster, vice president for operations for Addison, said last week the state failed to give the required seven days' notice before terminating the contract.

He said the state gave Addison only two hours to remove its equipment and threatened police action.

Foster said it's the state, not the contractor, that is to blame for the delays and cost overruns. There have been more than 500 change orders issued on the contract, he said. And his company has done the work but never been paid.

There are more than $6 million in claims against the state by the contractor and subcontractors, Foster said.

O'Brien said the bonding company has until Aug. 24 to decide if it wants to hire another contractor to finish the project or if it wants the Public Works Board to hire a contractor of its own.

O'Brien said $1.4 million had been withheld from the project and that money would be used to complete it. He anticipates it would take at least two months for the home's punch list to be taken care of.

The home, to house 188 veterans, was to be completed Jan. 4. Since then there has been a daily penalty of $2,885 assessed against Addison. The Public Works Board has withheld $1.4 million payment due to Addison.

There are scores of items that must be fixed before the state accepts the project. O'Brien said there are cracks in the walls, doors that must prevent smoke from entering a room don't shut properly, work must be done to lower sinks and space the toilets to comply with ADA standards and the sprinkler system must work.

Foster said the walls at the building move five-eighths of an inch within a 24-hour period because of the heat. His company, he said, notified the state in November 1999 of this problem before the walls were up. But he said the state ignored it and felt the air conditioning would correct it. Now the walls are cracking and the doors don't close, he said.

There isn't adequate pressure to operate the sprinkler system, Foster said, because the plans didn't take the water source into account.

The project is about $1 million over cost and a year behind schedule.

Chuck Fulkerson, executive director for the state Office of Veterans Affairs, said he was told the home would be ready by June 30. Staff was hired and equipment was purchased. The equipment is now being stored and the staff has completed writing all the operating procedures. And the 29 employees are waiting for the patients.

Brett Kandt, a senior deputy attorney general who advises the Public Works Board, said the National Fire Union Co., which posted the bond on the project, was notified Aug. 3 of the failure of Addison. He said the bonding company has 20 days to get a contractor on the site to finish the work.