After months of persistence and patience, the NC cafeteria and Reber Center construction projects have finally begun to draw to a close. Or they would be, if LT did not have to freeze $800,171.16 in bonds due to liens subcontractors filed for their money. Currently, this problem looks as if it could still be tied up in courts from anywhere in between six months to a year, LT Business Manager Brian Stachacz said.

A lien gives subcontractors legal recourse to be paid for their work along with any materials they may have purchased for the project.

LT hired a contracting group, Henry Bros. Co., to manage the contractors for the project, as they are legally obligated to hire the lowest bidding company with the adequate qualifications necessary to complete the plan to the school’s expectations. In turn, Henry Bros. hires subcontractors to work on specific parts of construction. The controversy lies in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) subcontractor, Titan Mechanical LLC, which allegedly went bankrupt during the project and cut off communications with Henry Bros. and LT. This forced Henry Bros. to re-subcontract the final part of the work to Chicago Piping Co.

“This situation is unfortunate, because you never want to hear about people performing work and not getting paid for it,” Superintendent Dr. Kilrea said. “Those subcontractors want their money, and rightfully so. Their first step is to file a complaint against the mechanical subcontractor, but since the mechanical subcontractor is no longer an option, they filed a complaint against Henry Brothers and the district.”

Titan Mechanical hired seven subcontractors to help complete the HVAC, and when Titan Mechanical stopped communication they also ceased paying their subcontractors causing two court cases, six liens and two potential liens from seven subcontractors that have filed claims, Stachacz said. LT has done nothing wrong to be sued in anyway. The school is mentioned in court because it is holding the money the subcontractors want to be paid with.

“I’ve been around enough,” Stachacz said. “This is my 14th year in school business, and the last school I was at did several renovation projects and I could say that I had some similar problems on those as well. It happens.”

LT would have had almost 100 percent of the project paid out if not for this situation, Stachacz said. Both of the renovations, however, have come in under time and under budget.

“I think when [the students] saw the cafeteria on a daily basis and [they] could see the evolution of the facility, it was actually very interesting,” Kilrea said. “There are always some unforeseen conditions associated with large renovation projects, and we had quite a few. I thought the architects and contractors responded well. We certainly did not foresee the issue with the mechanical subcontractor, which is unfortunate. The bottom line is the facilities look great and they are a great improvement.”