The Town of Miami Lakes and a surety bond company reached a settlement agreement for the unfinished youth center project following the original contractor’s default midway through construction of the facility.
During a May 8 special meeting, the town accepted Bankers Insurance Company’s $757,789 offer to complete the youth center located at Picnic Park East adjacent to the Miami-Dade District One police station, more than a year after Miami Lakes issued J.B. Builders, now doing business as Ballarena Construction, a stop work order.
In March 2013, town officials hired Tirso Martinez, an architectural consultant, who discovered the construction work didn’t mirror the original blueprints that councilmembers approved in 2012.
A surety bond company steps in when a contractor defaults on a building project, deciding whether to tap a new company to finish the job, or pay a settlement and let the town complete the job itself.
According to the settlement agreement, Bankers Insurance Company will pay Miami Lakes $757,789, the amount the town paid to Ballarena Construction to build the 3,809 square-feet youth center, and with $683,020 left over from the original contract, Miami Lakes has a total of $1,440,840 to finish the project.
The initial amount budgeted for the structure was $1,015,436.
The accord also stipulates that Miami Lakes cannot take legal action against Ballarena for its dereliction on the project.
However, Colonial Windows Corporation filed a claim against the surety bond and a lawsuit against Banker Insurance for non-payment for the windows and doors they furnished to Ballarena Construction for the building.
The surety company and Miami Lakes agreed to each pay $31,250 to Colonial Windows Corporation to settle the lawsuit.
“Some of the windows are good and some are not,” said Miami Lakes Town Attorney Raul Gastesi. “But they don’t get the money until we get the rest of the equipment.”
Councilmember Tim Daubert said the surety company or the contractor should pay to replace the playground equipment that’s been sitting “there for over a year.”
“Even with the settlement, they are not paying the town enough,” he said. “Even with a bigger budget to build it, we are looking at time lost. Why not put a dollar amount on lack of performance when residents and the Boys Scouts haven’t been able to use the park for over a year?”
Martinez told councilmembers the next step is selecting a new contractor to perform “selective demolition” work to save as much as the existing building (33 percent completed) as possible.
He said the work could take up to six weeks and the youth center should be finished by April 2015.
“It’s about nine months for total completion as originally planned,” Martinez said.
After the meeting, Martinez said the problem stemmed from a lack of supervision.
He said Ballarena Construction and its original subcontractor developed internal problems and hired a new subcontractor that wasn’t qualified to work on the youth center as the original plans required.
Instead, the subcontractor erected a watered-down version, which was not parallel to Miami Lakes’ building standards.
“We asked the contractor to correct it because the work didn’t comply with the original designs,” Martinez said. “He didn’t want to admit it was wrong and he defaulted. Lack of supervision cased the default.”
Mayor Wayne Slaton, and Councilmembers Daubert, Frank Mingo, Tony Lama, and Nelson Rodriguez voted to accept the settlement.
Vice Mayor Manny Cid and Councilmember Ceaser Mestre were absent from the meeting.
Following the default, delay and a series of negotiations, lawmakers are happy to put the mess behind them and proceed with the project.
“I feel comfortable enough to complete the contract,” said Mingo, who first broached the issue in February.
The youth center’s original blueprint calls for two multipurpose activity rooms, classrooms for after school educational programs and tutoring, a lobby/atrium, storage area, women’s and men’s bathroom, family bath room and a reception desk.
The facade of the building is similar to the blueprint of the Community Center at Royal Oaks Park, where parents can drop off their children and proceed to exit the area without traffic.
On the outside, the facility will be adorned with ample trees and lush landscaping and two big oak trees towering over the front of the facility and the green space area near the driveway.
Also, the youth center will feature a new playground area, pavilion/picnic areas that can also be used to host small events and functions, a basketball court and additional parking.