iblv editorial:

Net loss

Las Vegas bungles tennis center’s planning; taxpayers foot the bill

Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (3 a.m.)

Cracks began to appear on the courts at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center shortly after the Las Vegas-owned facility opened in 2005. But those construction defects exposed something at least as serious at City Hall — an inexcusable breakdown in the planning of a major project.

The culmination of this costly debacle occurred last week, when the Las Vegas City Council agreed to pay project contractor APCO Construction $2.13 million. That was the amount of an award ordered by state-appointed arbitrators who found the city at fault in its dispute with the company.

As reported by Sam Skolnik in the Las Vegas Sun, a sister publication of In Business Las Vegas, the 2-1 ruling found fault with the city’s Building and Safety Department for not fully approving the plans before they were put out to bid. Richard Goecke, who was chief of the Public Works Department at the time, was singled out for ordering the bids despite knowing the plans were faulty.

The city, thinking the company was at fault for the construction problems, decided to do battle rather than focus on solving problems within City Hall that might have averted the costly litigation. That turned out to be a big mistake because the ruling ordered both sides to pay their legal fees. For the city, that will amount to more than $3.3 million.

APCO has spent more than $4 million on attorneys.

Not everyone is convinced the ruling was fair. Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown, who was a city councilman when the tennis center was built in his district, flatly denied the ruling’s finding that he and his staff pressured city departments to go to bid as soon as possible.

But taxpayers deserve better from the city and have every reason to demand that all future projects undergo rigorous planning before going out to bid.

Discussion: 1 comment so far…

By okra

11/15/09 at 11 a.m.

Suggest removal

Shorter Larry Brown: It was like that when I got there!

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