P.V. school district sues over mold at new high school

August 26, 2005

August 26, 2005

Santa Cruz,CA

By DONNA JONES

Sentinel staff writer

/04local.htm

WATSONVILLE — Tired of finger-pointing, Pajaro Valley school

officials are looking to the courts to fix blame for mold problems

at Pajaro Valley High School.

Construction crews discovered mold in unfinished classroom buildings

in March 2004. The cleanup and associated construction delays has

since cost the district about $1.5 million, and the figure could

grow to twice that once all expenses are tallied, according to

Associate Superintendent Terry McHenry.

Though the school opened last week, construction isn't expected to

be completed for several months.

But neither the contractor nor architect have accepted

responsibility for the mold, and the insurance company rejected the

district's claim for damages.

So, in a bid to recover costs, the district filed a lawsuit Tuesday

in Monterey County Superior Court against Dilbeck and Sons General

Contractors Inc. of Salinas, WTC Architects Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga

and Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. of Atlanta.

" The only one that didn't do anything wrong was us, " McHenry said.

Sharon Dilbeck, president of Dilbeck and Sons, expressed frustration

at the district's decision to sue after her company spent more than

$135,000 on a mediation effort.

" We were confident in what we had done, " Dilbeck said, explaining

why she was willing to pay half the cost of arbitration.

Dilbeck contends the mold problem was caused by a faulty design.

The architect denies the plan was faulty.

Similar problems cropped up at s Valley High School in 2004,

three years after the campus opened. s Valley officials filed a

$32 million suit against its architect, contractors and construction

management firm over a host of problems including faulty

ventilation, and added the mold issue onto the list. The s

Valley case is scheduled for a court hearing in September.

Contact Donna at djones@....

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