Jail contractor sues county

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

The construction company responsible for the renovation of the Clark County Detention Center and the construction of the Regional Justice Center, which is 19 months behind schedule, has filed a lawsuit against Clark County stemming from delays in the projects.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in District Court, A.F. Construction Co. charges the county with mismanagement, breach of contract and defamation in connection with the projects.

The company is demanding the repayment of more than $4 million in retention fees from the jail renovation and has requested an arbitrator to handle similar issues with the justice center construction.

The 379,000-square-foot expansion to the existing Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas was completed in August 2002. Work on the Regional Justice Center was scheduled to be finished in January 2002.

Eleissa Lavelle, attorney for the construction company, declined to comment on the complaint Wednesday but said in a news release that plans for both projects were defective, "resulting in multiple costly changes to the construction and in significant delays to completion."

Lee Thomson, Chief Deputy District Attorney for the county, said the county planned to vehemently fight both actions.

"We're more than ready, willing and able to meet this and defeat it at the proper time," he said.

Thomson said the county withheld retention fees on construction of the jail because the county believes there were violations in the contract.

Thomson said the jail also ended up costing more than $18 million over the bid price. County officials are currently investigating why the price was so high, he said.

"There are problems with this job and for that reason we've held retention," Thomson said. "We sent them notice."

As for the Regional Justice Center, he said the project was "significantly overtime and we have problems with the quality of the work."

Roof defects, a lack of seismic bracing and a number of other problems have caused significant delays with contractors, he said.

But the construction company claims the delays were due to design flaws and discrepancies in the county's structural and architectural drawings.

According to the complaint, the county disbanded a Disputes Review Board immediately before the board was to consider additional payment for the extensions.

The company also alleges that several county officials "negligently and maliciously made defamatory statements" concerning the construction company's work, publicly describing it as substandard.

The complaint accuses Randy Walker of making defamatory comments to the media and public while guiding print and television reporters through the project.

Walker could not be reached late Tuesday for comment.

The complaint accuses Thomson of making similar remarks that the company claims were equally damaging to the company's reputation.

"I categorically deny that," Thomson said.

A.F. Construction was awarded the county contract in November 1999 for a fixed price of $66,465,271.

According to the complaint, the contract stated that "the contractor may receive, as damages, the sum of $9,000 for each calendar day of delay not caused by the contractor."

County spokesman Erik Pappa issued a county statement late Wednesday, saying the lawsuit had been referred to the District Attorney's office and that a full report on the status of the Regional Justice Center would be presented to the County Commission on Aug. 19.