by Ralph Nichols

All outstanding claims by contractors for cost overruns during phase one of the 1st Ave. S. improvement project have been settled by Burien for just under $3 million.

City Council members agreed to pay $2.75 million to resolve claims against Burien by general contractor Frank Coluccio Construction Co. and subcontractors Active Construction Inc. and Terra Dynamics (read the settlement here, p. 25 of PDF file).

The June 6 settlement was reached through two days of mediation, said Burien City Attorney Craig Knutson.

Coluccio and its subcontractors earlier filed suit in King County Superior Court to recover claims of more than $8 million for cost overruns resulting from delays, for which they held the city responsible.

An Aug. 1 trial date had been set in this case.

Active Construction did a lot of the trenching for undergrounding utilities. Terra Dynamics did landscaping work.

The city council also settled with Trans Tech Electric Inc. on April 4, agreeing to pay the subcontractor $177,902 and an additional $12,453 to Coluccio for the contractor’s markup for work performed.

Trans Tech, which installed street lighting and traffic signals, had filed a claim for $602,500.

Although “the city had a number of defenses we would have used at trial,” Knutson said Burien “would have been subject to pretrial interest [on the monetary claims] at 12 percent, and possibly [plaintiffs’] attorneys’ fees….

“Given the uncertainties of a jury trying to figure out a very complicated construction case,” coupled with a possibility the city “would have to pay a lot more” than the mediated agreement, settling contractors’ claims was reasonable, he told The B-Town Blog.

“I don’t know why they settled, but they faced the same uncertainties … and contractors don’t like to go to trial over construction claims.” Ninety-five percent of such claims are settled before a trial begins.

“Both sides had put a lot of effort into the case, but had not yet taken depositions” – which cost a lot in attorneys’ fees – “so both sides had a real incentive” to reach a pre-trial settlement through mediation,” Knutson added.

However, Burien expects “to recover a significant amount of this settlement” through payments from Seattle City Light and also Comcast, which are still being negotiated, for problems with their utility lines that contributed to construction delays.

Final cost of the project is approximately $26.4 million.

Phase one of the 1st Ave. S. rebuilding and redesign project between S/SW 162nd St. and S/SW 146th St. got underway on May 15, 2006, with completion scheduled for Nov. 27, 2007.

But repeated delays extended this project by almost a year. Construction finally ended – although utility undergrounding remains to be done, along with additional street lighting and curb, gutter and landscaping work – on Oct. 10, 2008.

Phase one planning took place while Gary Long was still Burien city manager, and Stephen Clark was public works director when the work was done.

As work fell behind schedule in 2007, Clark blamed it on bad weather the previous winter along with a cement processing strike – and utility conflicts and unanticipated problems encountered beneath the surface of 1st Ave.

Many businesses along the street reported heavy financial losses, with some going out of business as the result of construction.

by Ralph Nichols

A dark financial cloud that cast a long shadow over Burien’s plans for its future disappeared when City Council members gave unanimous approval Monday night (July 19) to a negotiated insurance settlement.

The lawmakers accepted an agreement with the Washington Cities Insurance Authority (WCIA) that favorably resolves for the city issues of outstanding insurance coverage in the long-running Westmark v. Burien case.

“No longer will we have millions of dollars of liability staring us in the face,” City Manager Mike Martin told the B-Town Blog.

Westmark Development has had plans to build Emerald Pointe on the Sound – a controversial housing development with up to 200 market-rate condominiums at 13401 12th Ave. S.W. – for 20 years.

But the project, opposed by residents of the Seahurst area who have voiced environmental concerns, has been on hold since the city incorporated in 1993 and took over permitting from King County.

The proposed site of Westmark's "Emerald Pointe on the Sound" is at this location at 13401 12th Ave SW, which is essentially a vacant, wooded ravine.

Westmark eventually filed suit against Burien for intentionally interfering with its “business expectations.” In 2007, the state Court of Appeals upheld a $10.7 million judgment against the city, plus interest and other expenses.

While the WCIA paid most of the Westmark award, “Burien paid an additional $510,341.77 to satisfy the Westmark I judgment,” according to the claims settlement agreement.

The city later paid additional “substantial attorneys fees and defense costs” in two subsequent suits related to this case.

City Attorney Craig Knutson said under the agreement, which holds Burien harmless, the WCIA will:

• Reimburse the city for the $510,341.77.
• Reimburse the city for approximately $60,000 it has already paid in the current round of litigation with Westmark.
• Accept responsibility for coverage of the city’s ongoing liability for Westmark’s attorney fees and other defense costs in this suit.

“The agreement with the WCIA resolves insurance coverage issues so the city will not incur any financial liability on what has been incurred to date or will be incurred in the future,” Knutson noted.

“In essence,” Martin said, “the city has come out unscathed after all these years. This is significant because [the liability] has had such immense financial consequences that it clouded our ability to plan for the future.”

When considering city programs and projects, “I always had to ask myself, ‘what happens if we are held liable for part or all of this?’” he added. “This agreement takes away that cloud. This is absolutely the tail of the dog.”

The reimbursements will go “back into the general fund where it come from.”

Knutson said the settlement is the result “of ongoing negotiations and analysis of insurance coverage issues complicated by the fact that the coverage was over so many years.”

As for Westmark’s proposed condo project, “it is alive in the sense that it’s still buildable. But no permits have been issued yet,” Martin said.

While project plans have been revised, “it’s still a major multi-family complex but with major modifications … it’s something that can still be built.”

According to The Seattle Times, a federal jury awarded $60,000 to a 53-year-old accountant who got tasered by Normandy Park police after he tried to talk to the police chief about being treated “rudely.”

The victim, an accountant named Kevin Bonner, was tasered by Normandy Park Detective John Lievero, who, according to the decision, used “excessive force” as well as conduct considered “malicious, oppressive, or in reckless disregard” of his civil rights at the Normandy Park police station in April 2005.

This begs the question, and we don’t mean to make fun of this situation as we know how dangerous tasers are (feel free to respond in Comments below or email us):

Would you willingly be tasered if the reward was $60K?

The full story is here.

At Monday night’s City of Burien meeting, a check for $250,000 was presented collectively to several Highline School District teachers as part of the Housing Incentive Grant Program, which is a direct result of a settlement for the Lora Lake Apartments.

On hand were members of the Burien City Council, Highline School District, several teacher recipients, as well as House Speaker Frank Chopp and State Rep. Dave Upthegrove, both of whom were instrumental in getting the funding from the Port of Seattle and King County settlement.

The award enables Burien to provide the Highline School District money to attract teachers into hard-to-fill positions.

Prospective teachers are being offered $250 per month as a financial incentive to help with their housing costs in Burien.