Pajaro Valley school district headed to trial over high school mold cleanup

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Pajaro Valley school district headed to trial over high school mold

cleanup

By Tom Ragan

Sentinel staff writer, Santa Cruz Sentinel - Santa Cruz,CA

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/February/09/local/stori

es/07local.htm

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District appears to be headed to

court in an attempt to recoup more than $1 million in costs

associated with the removal of mold during construction of Pajaro

Valley High School.

At a special board meeting Wednesday, a retired teacher expressed

concern that she was afraid district officials were spending too

much in attorney fees to win a lawsuit that could have been handled

out of court.

The district is suing Salinas-based Dilbeck and Sons General

Contractors Inc., WLC Architects Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga and

Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. of Atlanta.

The district is claiming that either the architect or the

construction company is responsible for $1.5 million in cleanup and

construction delays at Pajaro Valley High School after mold was

discovered in some of the school's buildings in March 2004.

Since then, the Atlanta insurance company has rejected district

claims for damage, leading to the showdown in court.

" I just wish more money would stay in the classrooms where we need

it, " said Sylvia Previtali, who taught for nine years in the

district. " I'm afraid we're going to end up spending $1 million in

litigation fees, and it could wind up costing us more than what it

cost to fix the mold "

Terry McHenry, the district's associate superintendent at the time

the case was filed, could not be reached to comment Thursday.

Superintendent Anne Mays referred all matters to McHenry.

The case is scheduled to be heard before a jury June 11 in Santa

Clara County Superior Court.

Sharon Dilbeck, president of Dilbeck Construction, claims the mold

was not her company's fault.

She has expressed frustration with the district's decision to sue

after her company offered to pay $135,000 for mediation efforts.

" There was just no settlement, " she said. " We were unable to settle.

But it's not our fault. We believe that the mold got there because

of the design of the building. Once there was a new design and the

mold was removed, we finished the project and everything worked out

fine "

Larry Wolff, one of the owners of the WLC Architects Inc., which was

in charge of the construction design for the high school, could not

be reached for comment.

Rasmussen, owner of BMR Inc., the Carmel Valley construction

management firm hired by the district, is offering it technical

advice for the court case.

Previtali said at Wednesday's board meeting that all she wanted was

answers, but she was having a hard time getting them.

" I have requested information about the lawsuits from Mr. McHenry, "

she said, " and was informed by him that the matter, especially the

matter of the arbitration agreement, was 'confidential.' "

Contact Tom Ragan at tragan@....