Mold tests again raise project cost

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Mold tests again raise project cost

The city's new police and fire headquarters is further delayed.

By Tony Bizjak -- Bee Staff Writer

Published 4:05 a.m. PST Friday, Dec. 14, 2001

The latest mold test results for the city of Sacramento's police and fire

headquarters project are back -- and the news is not good.

It will cost another $380,000 to clean inactive mold out of the Freeport

Boulevard building's ductwork, officials will tell the City Council next

week.

Moreover, Deputy City Manager Tom Lee said the building will not be ready

for police and fire officials to move in until May at the earliest -- about

nine months behind schedule -- and total project costs could rise another

$1.5 million to $2 million because of mold-related delays.

That includes additional costs of tearing down parts of some newly

constructed walls and ceilings to get to the ductwork for cleaning, then

rebuilding those facades, officials said.

The work will put the renovation project at an old shopping center near the

intersection of Freeport Boulevard and Fruitridge Road about $5 million over

its original $15.5 million budget, and likely will lead to contentious talks

over who at the construction site shares responsibility for those added

costs.

Council members, by now accustomed to bad news about the project, are

frustrated, said Mayor Fargo.

" Everybody is pretty stunned at the delay and the costs, " she said.

But Fargo joined Lee in echoing the perspective that City Manager Bob

has been putting on the project for months: Despite numerous setbacks and

cost overruns, the project is still a good deal for the city, because it

comes at a cheaper price than if the city had built a new facility from

scratch.

Not only does it give the police and fire departments needed space in an

updated facility, it should help jump-start one of the area's economically

depressed, older commercial corridors, Lee said.

The police are in temporary quarters downtown in a rented former bank

building after leaving the antiquated Hall of Justice on Sixth Street. The

fire department headquarters are squeezed into a city building at 13th and I

streets, shared with the city building department.

When the current problems are overcome, " this will be a major asset for

Freeport Boulevard, a great economic boon for that strip, " Lee said. It will

hold about 400 city employees, including the top officials from both public

safety departments.

The newest cost revelations are particularly vexing to council members

because the council had told city staff early this year not to ask for any

more money for the project.

Now, however, Fargo said the council needs to face the reality that it has

to cough up more money to get the project done.

" It is absolutely essential that we have a clean building before we move

people in, " she said. " We can't be so concerned about the cost that we don't

do it. "

Several questions, and potential controversies, remain.

Public Works officials say they do not know how the mold got into the

ductwork.

Project manager Dave said he believes the city has turned what was a

wet and moldy building into a tight and dry facility, and that all mold

problems had been eliminated by the time the ductwork arrived.

Tests at the workshop where the ducts were constructed, however, showed mold

levels within the normal range.

" I don't have an answer, " said, when asked where the mold in the

ductwork came from.

Lee said city officials will talk with its project developer, All Star

Investments LLC, about having that company, as well as contractors and

subcontractors, share in the costs.

Lee said the city contends some previous mold problems happened during

construction.

Thatch, attorney for All Star Investments, said his company has not

spoken to the city about responsibility for cost-sharing, " but I am sure we

are going to. It is a sensitive subject. You don't know where it is

headed -- who is going to blame whom. "

About the Writer

The Bee's Tony Bizjak can be reached at (916) 321-1059 or tbizjak@...

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