first edition G4:first edition G4 11/12/14 9:18 PM Page 1 Presorted Standard PERMIT NO. 15 Yountville, CA 94599 Postal Patron Local ECRWSS a 21st century newspaper serving the heart of the Napa Valley Vol. 17, No. 23 Bringing a Doll to Life Family Fun Day participants Sade Muessel, age 8, and her mother, Johanna Muessel, work together at the Napa Valley Museum Saturday afternoon using cornhusks to create a traditional American pioneer doll with the simplest of materials and the utmost of imagination and concentration. Old and young participants attending this popular cornhusk craft workshop also fashioned cornhusk sunflowers and owl ornaments. These free family activity days are held monthly on Saturday afternoons. (Photo by Glen Nock.) Circulation Workshop Postponed The Town of Yountville has postponed the public workshop regarding the Yountville Circulation Plan update. Originally slated for Monday (November 17), this public workshop will be rescheduled to a later date in order to provide interested residents with sufficient opportunity to review the workshop materials. Notice of the future date and availability of materials will be provided in the near future, said Nathan Steele, management analyst for the Town of Yountville. Questions about the meeting or the circulation plan can be addressed to Steele at [email protected]. bsundial High Low Wednesday 11/5 77 45 Thursday 82 48 Friday 78 43 Saturday 83 46 Sunday 80 47 Monday 78 45 Tuesday 65 51 Precipitation = nil Season Total = 1.41 Last Year = 1.08 November 13, 2014 Young Man Takes Pride in Past 14-year-old Wil Twomey of Petaluma inspects one of the 20 vintage military uniforms in his collection, which he brought to the Veterans Home and put on display in Grant Hall Tuesday to share with Home members on Veterans Day. Twomey said he also collects military medals and artifacts. His interest in starting such a collection was born after he met and became acquainted with several veterans in Petaluma. He decided then that he would do what he could to protect soldiers and their military service from being forgotten. (Photo by Glen Nock.) 5 Years Later Community Center Remains Incomplete; Litigation Costs 4x Repairs Nearly five years after the Town of Yountville moved into the Community Center and the remodeled Community Hall the $9.2 million project is still incomplete. For a time it looked as if the needed repairs to the project’s HVAC system, roof, skylights, doors, tile, drainage and plumbing would be made, other defects on the punch list resolved and the LEED Gold Certification achieved. But now, 90 days after that work was contracted for, the deal has fallen through because final terms could not be reached, and the preferred contractor refused to sign the contract. In August, shortly after the Town recovered $1.6 million in claims from the general contractor and multiple subcontractors, the Town Council awarded a design-build construction contract to rectify the problems with project’s design and construction. Those defects had been noted almost immediately after the project was represented as completed in November of 2009. That $572,000 repair contract was awarded to Oakland-based Richard Avelar & Associates Reconstruction Services. The deal was made apart from the competitive bidding process which is a general rule for public works and public contract expenditures. This departure from procedure was suggested by Deputy Town Attorney Andrew Jared of Alvarez-Glasman & Colvin in a staff report to the Council. He suggested Avelar because an employee of the company, Tim Stokes, served as an expert witness in defending the claims against Swank Construction, the contractor on the Community Hall project. Jared reasoned that since Reconstruction Services had completed the analysis of the issues on site as part of the litigation, “significant savings can be achieved as compared to bringing parties unfamiliar with the site and its history, making a design-build contract award to Reconstruction Services without competitive bidding appropriate.” The Council agreed that this “particularized knowledge” of the nature of the damages and the repair plan required to achieve the original intent of the Town and its architects made sense and authorized the contract. Town Attorney Arnold AlvarezGlasman said yesterday, “Avelar was unwilling to agree to the unique requirements mandated by State law to be included in a contract when working on a public agency contract.” He said Avelar, which has been in business since 1982, balked at such requirements as a State Law requiring the payment of prevailing wages, recording requirements and the posting of a bond. “We were all surprised,” said Glasman, who added many hours were spent negotiating with Avelar over the terms of the now failed contract. He confirmed that it was an Avelar representative who initially suggested the Town pursue this approach to the repairs. “The Town acted in good faith,” he stated. Since no agreement was ever signed, the Town has no right to recover any losses from Avelar. So now the Town staff must go back to the drawing board to determine if an alternate firm should be hired or if the work should be delegated to a series of spepcialized construction companies. Other unfinished business related to this marathon project is the settlement of delay claims brought against the Town by Swank Construction and two subcontractors. This matter is being resolved through binding arbitration. It was anticipated that the arbitrator would issue his award on or before August 24, but Glasman said yesterday the arbitrator has asked for a final brief on all sides. He estimated that it will not be until some time next month that the arbitrator will issue his decision on this binding arbitration. Meanwhile the Community Center complex continues to operate on a daily basis though black plastic sheeting is in place on the roof of Community Hall for another rainy season, the installation of exterior siding on all of the buildings in the complex is inadequate or improper and the heating and air conditioning system is unreliable and doesn’t meet specified energy efficiency standards. The Town has budgeted $800,000 to make the repairs necessary to bring the project as close to the standards of the original contract as possible, but it has spent more than four times that amount in construction related litigation. Legal costs related to the project have now reached $3.5 and continue to mount each time the arbitrator asks for more information. Community Center Construction Costs (rudimentary version) Construction contract $ 9,200,000 Legal fees $ 3,500,000 Repair budget $ 800,000 costs to date $13,500,000 Legal recovery 6/14 - $ 1,600,000 total expenditure $11,900,000 binding arbitration award ? staff time ?