Fire station contract canceled, again

The Bureau of Reclamation has canceled a contract to build its new fire station for the second time, it announced, but construction is expected to restart sometime this spring with a new contractor doing the work, perhaps even while lawsuits among the parties persist, if court records are an indication.

The government originally awarded the contract in 2016 to build the 22,000-square-foot fire station, with completion expected in April 2018.

Innovative Construction and Design (ICD), a small business out of Post Falls, Idaho, was awarded the work with its bid of $13.6 million.

But Reclamation terminated the contract in March 2019, about 11 months after the expected completion. That termination was overturned by the agency itself to allow a third-party contractor to take over.

"Ultimately, the third-party contractor was unsuccessful which resulted in the second termination," the agency stated in a press release last week.

"The federal government includes terms in its contracts that protect against financial losses in cases where the awarded contractor does not meet its contractual obligations," the release explains. "This protection is provided via performance bonds issued by a second party surety. Reclamation has opened negotiations with ICD's surety to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution to bring the contract to completion."

More details will be coming after completion of those "sensitive" negotiations, the agency said.

"The project has been halted until an appropriate path forward can be identified. We anticipate construction will resume in the spring of this year under the direction of the surety and a new contractor," said Columbia–Pacific Northwest Deputy Regional Director Rob Skordas.

The would be the fourth contractor on the project, The Star learned from federal court records.

The first three and the surety (insurance) company have been in court since late 2019, when the government sued on behalf of Bedrock Masonry, Inc., filing a claim with the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington in Spokane seeking payment of nearly $123,000, interest and triple damages.

Last March, the court combined that case with a nearly identical one brought by Monster Concrete, Inc. Both companies seeking payment expect it to come from the Berkley Insurance Company, ICD's surety company. ICD and Berkley have filed counterclaims against the subcontractors, claiming delays in work with their fault.

The matter had been set for trial later this year, but the court issued a stay on the proceedings Dec. 23, 2020, ordering the parties to file a joint status report in 90 days to let the court know what the Bureau of Reclamation found in an investigation of the matter.

A new court date should be proposed then. "Reclamation recognizes that it is in the best interest of the U.S. Government and taxpayers to negotiate an agreement with the surety that will result in contract completion, with little or no additional contract costs to the government," Skordas said in the press release.

The March 3 release, which The Star obtained March 9, didn't mention an investigation.