KINGSTON – Ulster County lawmakers closed the books on the legal battle over construction of the county law enforcement center on March 11 by accepting a $1.73 million settlement from the two companies lawmakers say cost the county millions of dollars in cost overruns.

The settlement ends the county's federal lawsuit against Crandell Associates Architects, the facility's designers, and Bovis Lend Lease, the construction company tasked with the project's oversight, and amounts to approximately 7 cents on the dollar.

In a prepared statement, County Executive Michael Hein said, "I am committed to using the entire proceeds from this lawsuit to pay down the debt on this nightmare project, and I recognize the pressing desire to move forward and focus on the extremely serious economic conditions facing our county and our region."

Construction of the Law Enforcement Center, located on State Route 32, began in 2002, with an anticipated completion date of 2004. Ulster County had initially budgeted $71.8 million to complete the facility, which now houses the 484-bed county jail and the county Sheriff's Office.

The project was plagued with significant delays and cost overruns from its inception. It finally opened in February 2007, costing Ulster County taxpayers over $20 million more than what was budgeted. To date, the county has paid $92.7 million for the project, with $700,000 of residual work remaining to be completed.

A 2006 audit conducted by the NYS Comptroller's Office identified $12.9 million in unnecessary costs, the result of "deficiencies in construction contracts, design errors, and payments for work that should have been covered in original contracts."

The report also attributes partial blame to the structure of the contracts between the county and its contractors, design problems, and the lack of effective project oversight and coordination.

The comptroller's audit reports that the county paid almost $2.2 million more than anticipated to Crandall because the project underwent "a significant number of change orders that resulted from design errors."

In addition, the audit found that the county incurred approximately $4.9 million in avoidable operating costs due to the project's time overrun.

Ulster County Legislature Chair David Donaldson, D-Kingston, said the settlement was the most logical approach, in that a trial would have delayed the project even further, and offered little hope in terms of ensuring a higher payout.

"It would have been tied up in court for the next two years and probably cost another $1 million in litigation," Donaldson said.

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