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Luzerne County has reached a proposed $475,000 settlement with New Jersey-based contractor D.A. Nolt over water damage to the historic county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, according to Tuesday’s county council work session agenda.

County officials had filed an arbitration claim against the company in September 2015, arguing the company should pay $691,400 for damage to interior murals and plaster caused by its failure to properly cover the courthouse domes to prevent rain from getting in the building during its exterior restoration project, which wrapped up in 2013.

The proposed settlement must be approved by the council.

D.A. Nolt had filed its own claim against the county claiming it was owed more than $1.59 million for costly delays outside the company’s control. The council had agreed to a $375,000 arbitration settlement with the company last February to close out that claim.

According to work session documents released Friday:

County Manager C. David Pedri, county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo and attorney Antonio Doganiero, the county’s outside legal counsel, recommend approval of the settlement.

The settlement was reached without proceeding to arbitration through the American Arbitration Association, which would be necessary if the proposal is rejected by the council.

Instead, the county and D. A. Nolt had agreed Dec. 20 to submit the dispute to non-binding mediation. Following additional negotiations with the mediator, attorney Robert B. Elion, the company agreed to pay $475,000 for the water infiltration damage in exchange for a release from the county.

Elion also believes the proposed settlement is fair and recommends council approval.

The settlement receipts would be deposited in a county fund to cover pending and future capital projects. This fund covered the county’s settlement to D.A. Nolt, which means it would end up with a net $100,000 gain.

D.A. Nolt was paid $5.175 million to complete a series of exterior repairs to the courthouse exterior staircases and almost every surface from the building’s roofline to the top of the main dome.

Aimed largely at stopping damaging leaks, the project involved work on the stained glass windows, cleaning and repointing of stone and decorative finishes and scraping and rubbing to remove layers of deteriorating waterproof coating from terra cotta tiles on the main dome and four smaller ones to prime them for a fresh finish.

The company has said in its court filings it started the project in September 2010 and planned to substantially complete the work in October 2011.

Shortly after commencing work, the company began to experience significant delays out of its control, including a discovery that the north stairs had no foundation, testing difficulties in the roof coating primer selection and unexpected weather conditions, including colder-than-normal temperatures, snow, rain, Susquehanna River flooding, a tropical storm and earthquake.

The completion date was extended through a change order, but delays continued, in part because the county added 17 additional repair items that were not part of the original contract, the company maintained.

The company said it was engaged in the project for 426 days longer than anticipated due to the county’s actions, leading to additional costs for equipment, scaffolding rental and manpower in addition to the loss of other work opportunities.

The county’s claim said water damage occurred while the rotunda tiles were stripped of old coating.

An outside expert who had examined the interior murals and plaster in 2006 reassessed the building as part of an agreement between the county and D.A. Nolt, concluding $691,415 in additional damages were caused by the 2011 leaks.

The county’s 2017 capital project budget earmarks $170,000 for interior courthouse dome plaster and gilding repair and another $800,000 for interior restoration.

Luzerne County has reached a proposed settlement with a contractor over water damage inside the historic county courthouse, photographed here on a recent foggy day.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_courthouse.jpeg.optimal.jpegLuzerne County has reached a proposed settlement with a contractor over water damage inside the historic county courthouse, photographed here on a recent foggy day. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

[email protected]

IF YOU GO

Luzerne County Council’s work session will follow a 6 p.m. voting meeting Tuesday at the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.