Bay Village’s partially completed new police station on Wolf Road. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

Bay Village files $1.3-million lawsuit over new police station
By Erik J. Eakin
Bay Village

The city of Bay Village has filed a lawsuit against the architect of the new police station, seeking $1.3 million in compensation for cost overruns and other problems.

In a lawsuit filed two weeks ago, the city alleges that Brandstetter Carroll Zofcin was negligent in various design and construction phases of the police station, which caused the city to incur substantial cost overruns. BCZ officials are disputing the allegations, saying the city is trying to make a "scapegoat" of the firm.

The new police station was initially budgeted at $6.5 million. After all the remediation and delay costs are tallied, the cost of the new station could easily top $8.2 million, according to estimates.

In the lawsuit, the city charges that BCZ selected and supervised Solar Testing, the company hired to perform soil borings and analysis on the site, and that Solar concluded the site was "appropriate and adequate for construction of the project."

However, during the excavation of the foundation, construction company Panzica "discovered a large quantity of unidentified fill material" and stopped construction, according to the lawsuit.

A company brought in to access the problem determined "the fill to contain household and miscellaneous debris…and concluded the debris not suitable for construction" and recommended the material be removed and replaced with clean fill.

(It should be noted that during discussions of the project, BCZ was warned, repeatedly, that the site of the new police station had formerly been the city's dump.)

Subsequently, the Ohio EPA determined that development on the former landfill would require a special permit which took almost two months to secure, the lawsuit said.

The city claims the cost for soil remediation and associated environment services totaled more than $525,000, and those delay costs added another $449,000 to the project.

Additionally, the suit charges that BCZ did not include necessary cabling in the budget proposal, which resulted in another $275,000 cost overrun.

The lawsuit also charges that BCZ was negligent in the design of the structure and failed to include sufficient steel supports, which resulted in another $50,000 expenditure.

Law Director Gary Ebert said the city tried for many weeks to reach agreement with BCZ, which also designed the city's Family Aquatic Center, "but we were unsuccessful."

BCZ President Lawrence W. Brandstetter said in response to the suit that his firm acted professionally.

"The Bay Village city attorney (Gary Ebert) has chosen to try to make a scapegoat of Brandstetter Carroll Zofcin to cover up his own inappropriate actions and ineptitude," Brandstetter said.

"The documented data will clearly show that the BCZ staff acted professionally on the interpretation of data that was provided by the city. This vicious attack on our people is most despicable and we will defend them vigorously."

Ebert said the scope of the project has been scaled back to compensate for the unexpected expenses.

The anticipated completion date for the project is now Nov. 25, a full five months later than the original scheduled completion date.

"From here on out we should not have any surprises," Ebert said.

In a related development, Cresco, the real estate company hired by the city to sell the former Marathon gas station parcel, has filed suit against the city for $23,400.

The lawsuit alleges the city bypassed the company and sold the parcel directly to Dover Junction owner Ray Negrelli, and that it is entitled to its 6 percent commission.

Ebert said the city is not liable for the commission because the prospective tenant Cresco secured for the site "did not qualify and was not acceptable," and that the tenant would have needed a parking variance.