Going To Trial Over Mount Vernon Emergency Operations Center

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A judge has ruled that the latest round of fighting over the city's unusable, million-dollar Emergency Operations Center must go to trial. The issue is warring documentation about whether the construction was defective.

On the one side, there's Councilman Andre Wallace's construction company, which began building the rooms inside the Third Street Firehouse before he was elected. On the other, city officials led by the Mayor.

The construction company, Creative Direction Construction & Design, LLC, has been paid more than $900,000 for the work from a federal grant. But Thomas refused to pay an additional $234,000 the company said was outstanding for change-order work, and Wallace sued.

The company seemed to have won when the judge issued a decision ordering the city to pay it $234,065.09, plus interest, for the work it did, but the judge also ordered the payment held while the city's counterclaim — that the work was defective and not up to contract specifications — was explored.

And each side submitted reports and documents and calendar items and depositions. On Monday the judge issued his latest ruling.

"The Court finds that the defendant's engineer and the report submitted create sufficient issues of fact to require a hearing on the defendant's counterclaim," said state Supreme Court Justice Sam Walker.

The city's law department issued a response.

“The City of Mount Vernon is gratified that Judge Sam Walker has recognized the deficiencies in Councilman Andre Wallace’s work at the Third Street Firehouse. Mount Vernon, and its residents, have been ripped off for far too long by disreputable contractors and consultants who want to make a quick buck off our city," Larry Porcari, Corporation Counsel, said. "Accountability is back in City Hall and we will not let taxpayers be bilked out of the value they deserve. We look forward to taking this contractor to trial. The city remains troubled by the recent news reports that the independent engineering firm, Universal Engineering Services, was pressured by Councilman Wallace to alter the results of their independent review of the site. We are currently reviewing this allegation and will refer the matter to outside authorities as necessary.”

Here's what Judge Walker's Monday ruling says about the evidence submitted by both parties:

According to Wallace, on August 14, 2015, the City's Building Commissioner, Mark A. Warren, performed a walk through and inspection of the plaintiff's work at the project and did not find the work to bedefective, but instead wrote a letter to the council members requesting legislation to pay for the change order. The plaintiff contends that Comptroller, Maureen Walker, also wrote a letter opining that appropriate legislation be enacted to allow for proper payment for all work completed under the open contract and that the change order appears to be proper. Next, as per the plaintiff, Steve Lawrence, of the Department of Homeland Security, performed a final walk-through and inspection of the plaintiff's work and did not find that the work performed was defective, deficient or incomplete.

The defendant's engineer submitted a detailed report and opines that the contract work was not completed; that the work which was performed was not performed in accordance with the contract specifications as set forth in the contract; that the work performed was defective and deficient; that the work performed is not in compliance with Federal and State handicapped accessibility requirements and the New York State Building Code and with the Building Code of the City of Mount Vernon. The report sets forth the specific defects discovered. The defendant avers that the work performed by the plaintiff was so defective that the Emergency Operations Center was never opened and is not usable in its present state.

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