A dispute between JLG Architects and one of its Cook County Family YMCA subcontractors, Meyer Group architects, has led to the county paying out $21,600 to avoid potential litigation.
A document handed out by Dan Miller of JLG at the June 18, 2013 county board meeting stated that by contributing this amount to what JLG will be paying Meyer Group, “Mediation and arbitration are avoided regarding Meyer Group’s claim for a higher fee for the project basic design services that JLG and the county are not in agreement with.”
Miller said that the county would have been involved if the issue had been taken to mediation or arbitration.
Miller indicated that Meyer Group took issue with what JLG considered to be Meyer Group’s share of the fees it was getting for the project.
County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers said, “It seems like a reasonable settlement.”
“This is the more affordable route for us to go,” Miller told the board.
The Cook County News-Herald asked Tim Meyer of Meyer Group, Wade Cole of ORB Management (the county’s owners’ representative on the project), Dan Miller of JLG, County Attorney Tim Scannell, County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers and the five county commissioners about the issue.
Meyer said, “I would like to comment on this situation and the project in general, but we are still in the middle of a settlement agreement with JLG. I would like to do so at the appropriate time. I do also plan to meet with commissioners, if they are agreeable, to discuss the situation that led to our scheduled mediation with JLG, again at the appropriate time. I will comment that the issues were with the contract between JLG and ourselves.”
When asked what the issue was in regard to, how much JLG was paying to settle, and why Cook County was asked to contribute since the issues regarded the contract between Meyer Group and JLG, County Attorney Scannell said, “You should speak with one of the commissioners or Braidy [Powers].”
Auditor-Treasurer Powers declined to answer the above questions, saying that he wasn’t sure what he was allowed to say but that he did not “know the disposition of the settlement” anyway.
As of press time, Dan Miller of JLG Architects had not responded to the News-Herald’s questions. One commissioner, Garry Gamble, had responded. He said that Meyer Group would be paid a total of $48,000 to resolve its issues regarding payment for its work on the project.
Upon resolution of this issue, JLG submitted a request for payment for re-configuring the YMCA space after the steering committee downsized the gymnasium to keep the project within budget. The board approved payment of $48,274 for this work, contingent on county attorney approval of the associated documents and finalizing of the settlement agreements involving Meyer Group, JLG, and the county. Commissioner Sue Hakes, on the steering committee, said the fee “was a negotiated deal.”
The motion to approve the requested payments to Meyer Group and JLG passed by a vote of 4-1, with Commissioner Garry Gamble voting no. He said he believed the matter should be settled “with the least amount of pain” but voted no because of his opposition to “the process.” The money paid to settle with Meyer Group will come out of the project’s contingency fund.
Meyer Group was the lead architect on the project in 2011 and was paid $251,759.79 for its services and related expenses at that time, according to Auditor-Treasurer Powers. The project was then put on hold, Meyer Group’s contract was terminated, and when the project was resumed, JLG was hired as the lead architect.
Meyer Group will no longer be involved in the project and the county will have full access to all documents they produced. YMCA programming
Duluth Area YMCA Executive Director Chris Francis formally introduced Cook County Branch Executive Director Emily Marshall to the board, saying, “She has hit the ground running.”
Marshall gave a rundown of what she has been doing. She is starting to work on a marketing program that will include a web page when they have membership rates nailed down. They have identified seven to nine people to sit on the local board, which will report to the Duluth area executive board.
The new Y will be taking over the Upper Shore Center for Fitness currently run by ISD 166 and housed at Cook County High School. Francis said they would try to keep similar hours. Most of the fitness equipment will be purchased new, which will allow the Y staff to be trained in maintaining it.
Marshall said they would be launching some programs this summer and fall that will not be dependent on having the building finished. After the opening of the building, which is planned for December, they hope to offer dance classes and start up a swim team, she said.
The local Y will have a webpage once membership rates have been identified. Membership categories will be youth (under 18), single adult, single parent family, two-parent family, immediate families of active-duty military personnel, homeless youth or families, and corporate (businesses with a certain number of employees can get lower rates and other services such as CPR training for employees). The Cook County branch is working on becoming a “Silver Sneakers” site where insurance would pay for membership for seniors over 65 who are on Medicare. In a separate interview, Marshall said the Y will have a sliding fee scale and will work with people to determine what they are able to pay for programs and membership. Tennis court drain tile
The landscape alterations resulting from the project have led to a potential drainage problem for the adjacent county-owned tennis courts. In the process of construction, the drain tile on the north side of the courts was found to not be working well.
Rod Wannebo of the Cook County Tennis Association said that the landscape alterations have also led to difficulty walking from the north courts to the south courts and inaccessibility for people in wheelchairs. “Prior to this construction we had a great complex,” he said. “It’s the county courts. …More and more people are playing.”
The drain tile would have been a problem before the YMCA project began, Commissioner Bruce Martinson said. Wannebo said a rain garden had originally been planned to handle storm water that ends up in the southeast corner of the property.
Commissioner Sue Hakes said that a temporary ramp has been put in and that they are looking at putting in a handicap-accessible sidewalk on the east side of the courts.
Greg Gastecki of Edwin E. Thoreson Inc. will be offering a price for fixing the problem. The cost will not be covered under the 1 percent sales tax that is funding the rest of the YMCA and other outdoor recreational amenities such as the hockey rink. Commissioner Martinson recommended that county rec fund dollars pay for the repair.
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