County clarifies building hiccup

May 14--Some new information has come to light on the Edd B. Keyes building renovation project, and the county has ended up getting a new controller box without spending a dime of taxpayer money.

At the April 26 Tom Green County Commissioners Court meeting, Risk Manager Marion McMinn reported "back in February, one of the subcontractors accidentally damaged some property over in the Keyes building, caused our HVAC controller box to ... burn up. So as a result of that, they called in Ener-Tel to come make what we're really are referring to as emergency repairs to get that back up online and running."

She added that "Ener-Tel did their due diligence and they tried to find a refurbished controller box, so they wouldn't be out the full expense for a brand new box. Unfortunately they couldn't find one so they had to purchase a brand new box and install it. The total cost for that repair was $9,360."

McMinn said "so their insurance company was contacted and a gentleman from Abilene, an adjuster there, offered us a settlement of $6,795." He depreciated the value of the box by about 50 percent. She didn't think that was a fair settlement and added "This isn't like driving a car out of the parking lot that you automatically depreciate the value."

According to paperwork obtained from the county, its staff had been working with Drew Dickerson of Custard Insurance Adjusters in Abilene. Not having any luck with Dickerson, McMinn contacted Templeton's (insurance) company, FCCI, who had assigned the adjuster in Abilene. This time she got an offer for $8,100.

"I think in these circumstances, it's a pretty good deal as far as getting a recovery on this type of damage. That leaves Tom Green County $1,260 that we're out of pocket for paying for this repair."

County Commissioner Aubrey DeCordova of Precinct 2 made the motion to accept the settlement offer and County Judge Steve Floyd seconded it. But Commissioner Rick Bacon, representing District 3, had a question: "Any possibility of getting the remainder of that back from Templeton?"

"No sir, we can't," said McMinn, adding that she'd double-checked with County Attorney Chris Taylor and "once you sign a release of this nature it releases Templeton for any further responsibility in this incident."

The motion was approved unanimously. This was the last publicly recorded motion on this matter.

After the meeting, commissioners Bacon, Bill Ford and Ralph Hoelscher commented on the matter in separate interviews, with the consensus being that when the old HVAC unit on the roof was lifted, the wires shorted and the old controller was damaged. The county has revised this information since then.

However, Don Killam, who became the county's construction project manager effective Feb. 1, continued to work behind the scenes. This position was created earlier this year to oversee "all construction projects for Tom Green County to include working with contractors, construction superintendents and other personnel contracted to provide services in the construction of Tom Green County facilities including both new construction and remodels," according to information from the county's Director of Human Resources Terry Mobley.

Killam contacted Ener-Tel on April 27 and told the company, "The settlement amount was $8,100 instead of the $9,360 you quoted. I'm not sure how much time or materials you ended up incurring, but if there's anything you can do to get close to the settlement amount, I'd appreciate it."

Ener-Tel's Zane Crouch, according to Killam, responded, "Yes. Don, we will take care of you." In an invoice dated April 28, the company billed the county for $8,100.

Between the work of McMinn and Killam and the accommodation made by of Ener-Tel, the county ended up with a new controller box at no cost to taxpayers.

When the Standard-Times contacted Killam on May 7 to get specifics and an update on the situation, the reporter was not told about the invoice adjustment, and the subcontractor was identified as Lane Weather Mart. In a memo sent by Killam to County Judge Steve Floyd, he mentioned that he took the call while out of the office and might not have been clear on the intent of the question.

However, once the first story regarding the matter was published, both McMinn and Killam contacted the paper and said Lane was not at fault.

According to a statement sent by Terry Mobley, the county's director of human resources, "Our knowledge of there being a problem with the controller was when employees notified the Facility Maintenance department that their office was hot. It was only then that it was discovered that some wires had been cut that caused the damage to the controller."

Mobley also stated, "There is one HVAC subcontractor (Lane Weather Mart) ... and Lane Weather Mart was not involved in any work related to the damage of the controller."

Gary McClure of Templeton added, "The fact is, there were some existing air conditioning control wires concealed in existing work that were not indicated on the project plans. The existing conditions were scheduled for demolition and when the required demolition was performed the wires were damaged. This caused the cooling system for the first floor to be down for a couple of hours one day. It was caught right away and we immediately had the county's controls contractor on-site to restore the system. Unfortunately for us, because Templeton is the contractor and because contractually we are carrying liability insurance, we turned the repair costs in as an insured claim. The carrier paid the county for the costs of the repair. The repairs have been made and paid for. The county was not out any money and no lost time."

Mike Lane, secretary, treasurer and part of the owner of Lane Weather Mart, said in an interview. "An error was made, but it wasn't by Lane Weather Mart," adding that his father founded the company in 1973. "We just do good work and that's how we build a good reputation. We don't advertise too much. It's all reputation and word-of-mouth. The good Lord has blessed us for many years."

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