Commission approves DA’s adviser on building delays

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, May 2, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

Shortly after Clark County commissioners hired a consultant to help move along the county's largest capital project in its history, county administrators downplayed disputes that have contributed to a series of delays.

Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to pay consultant Marty Solomon $100,000 to advise the district attorney's office on delays at the $140 million Regional Justice Center and Clark County Detention Center addition.

"I can't tell you whether it's unusual or not," Assistant District Attorney Mike Davidson said of the decision to hire a consultant. "Our role at the DA's office is to safeguard the interest of the county and look toward possible things that might never come up."

The two projects, combined with expanding the Family and Youth Service's main campus and the Spring Mountain Youth Camp, are being funded by a $120 million bond approved by voters in 1996.

The two youth camps are finished. The detention center, which was scheduled to open this spring, is expected to be finished in November. The justice center is expected to be completed in January 2002, seven months behind schedule.

Delays were caused early in the excavation phase; crews encountered tainted soils and also had to relocate utilities.

Although the consultant was hired for the district attorney's office, county officials said that filing a lawsuit over the delays and disputes between the contractors is their last resort. Davidson said Solomon's role is to facilitate communication between the companies and the county.

"We're looking for additional expertise we were lacking in our office," he said.

Because the two buildings are well on their way, Assistant County Manager Mike Alastuey said he doubts there will be further delays. The project is still within budget, although the county is close to exhausting its contingency funds set aside for work order changes.

"The most unpredictable aspects are coming out of the ground," Alastuey said, referring to groundbreaking and excavation. "

Andy Freeman, project manager for Jacobs Facilities Inc., the company which is overseeing construction, acknowledged there have been problems between his firm and the general contractor but declined to specify the issues. He said the two companies are working together to resolve differences.

"We're going to look at where the project is and what needs to be done without specifically saying who is responsible," Freeman said. "We haven't specifically laid blame. There is a concerted effort by us and the contractor to renew delays."