It's Always Something

Work has begun on the new Hudson Police and Court Center at 701 Union Street, but the wrangling about it continues.

At the informal Common Council meeting last night, two resolutions were introduced having to do with the police and court project. The first "ratified and authorized" a change order amounting to $11,500; the second authorized the mayor, in future, to execute change orders. Both drew objections from Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward).

In the discussion of these two resolutions, it was revealed that the change order in question was the second needed by the project. The first was required when it was discovered that part of the building's foundation was crumbling and needed to be rebuilt. The second change order was necessitated by a discrepancy between the drawings for the addition to the building and the reality. The incline was greater than represented in the drawings and therefore the foundation wall needed to be higher and the interior stairs needed to be increased.

"Why did we pay the architect?" Friedman asked. "Let's split the difference. We're taking a haircut for somebody else's error." Friedman asserted that the change order was "directly related to [the architect's] shoddy work." "I can't believe I'm the only one who says these things," Friedman declared. "I'm the liberal Democrat in the room." A bit later in the discussion, First Ward aldermen Rick Rector and Michael O'Hara echoed Friedman's concern.

A contingency of $200,500 is built into the project budget, but Friedman contended, "The contingency is not for professionals making mistakes."

City attorney Ken Dow explained that "terrain and site-related stuff was not something they [the architects] were to do." Later, Mayor Tiffany Martin Hamilton explained, "There had never been a proper survey of the topography, and that's how we ended up where we are." 

Dow acknowledged, "If you want to get some recourse against the architect, that can be done. The question here is do they pour the concrete and build the wall?" To which Friedman replied, "We can't make that decision tonight." When Friedman suggested that the City initiate a suit in small claims court, the mayor advised that it is not known "if the problem originated with the City, with Joe Rapp, or the architect."

Friedman also objected to the resolution that would allow the mayor to execute change orders, "using the contingency money cavalierly and outside of this Council." Dow argued, "There needs to be something in place. These things come up, and everything cannot stop for weeks at a time while the Council meets." Friedman countered, "Then we have emergency meetings."

The Council is expected to vote on the two resolutions at their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 17.
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