County Announces Lawsuit Against NYS For Costs Associated with Office Building Closure
Also announces hiring freeze and suspension of equipment purchases in light of current fiscal situation
(Binghamton, NY) Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala held a news conference Tuesday morning to discuss the county’s lawsuit against New York State. Broome County is suing for the costs associated with the clean up and evacuation of the County Office Building. The closure of the building and the ensuing cleanup took place in April when construction debris from the underground parking reconstruction project administered by New York State entered the County Office Building. Executive Fiala was joined by County Attorney Joe Sluzar to provide details of the why the lawsuit is necessary. The County expended over one million dollars to complete environmental testing and clean up. Employees had to be evacuated and were forced to set up county operations in alternate locations for more than a month following the incident.
“From day one, I have maintained that the county was not responsible for this incident and that County taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for the clean up of the County Office Building,” stated Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala. “New York State has not moved fast enough to address the cleanup costs that resulted from the accident under the County Office Building and the County cannot afford such costs given current financial conditions.”
Construction dust infiltrated the County Office Building on April 14, 2009 and as a precaution, the building was closed until air sampling could be completed to assure there were no health risks for employees or the public. The results of the testing concluded there were significant amounts of silica dust throughout the building which forced officials to keep the building closed until the debris could be professionally removed. Broome County hired Jennings Environmental to conduct on-going air sampling and to oversee the cleanup of the building which was completed by LVI Environmental Services.
From the onset of the incident, the county worked closely holding daily conference calls with the NYS Office of General Services (OGS), administrator of the basement reconstruction project. OGS suspended all construction activity in the garage under the County Office Building to ensure that no more dust would infiltrate the building. OGS was involved in the cleanup process and provided several resources to help the county conduct business during the displacement. However, the county’s persistent requests for reimbursement have not produced any aggressive action on the part of the state or the contractor to alleviate the county’s burden.
Broome County Attorney Joe Sluzar outlined several actions the county has taken to collect monies associated with the incident. “The County has reached out to OGS to immediately compensate Broome County and despite many requests, OGS has not give us a clear answer on reimbursement. We also filed a claim with our own insurance carrier, which was denied and we are currently reviewing that denial.”
Following the clean up and environmental testing, the County Office Building re-opened on May 14, 2009.
Executive Fiala identified the need to take swift action to recoup the funds used for the cleanup as the county faces a troubling fiscal situation. As a result, Executive Fiala announced both a hiring freeze and a suspension of equipment purchases while addressing the suit against NYS.
Fiala has requested department heads review all expenses for the rest of the 2009 budget year. Fiala also announced Tuesday that her administration was investigating a possible early retirement incentive for county workers. Executive Fiala says if the results of her investigation are in the best interests of the taxpayers, she will ask the legislature for an incentive program to help reduce the number of county employees.
“You have all seen the headlines from the State, down to the smallest municipality, every government is experiencing a deficit this year,” said Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala. “We have been aware of this problem for months and we have been acting accordingly, but right now it is time to take a more aggressive stand. We are putting the taxpayers first and do not want to continue to pass along increases on to them. ” The Executive added that her administration is working on additional strategies and will be outlining those strategies in the budget message which she will deliver on September 24th.
Executive Fiala is also urging both houses of the New York State Legislature to return to Albany to begin addressing this fiscal crisis. She urges those same lawmakers to not consider any measures that would shift costs from the state onto counties.
New York State, Executive Department, Office of General Services (OGS) oversees Government Complex Reconstruction Project. On April 15, 2008 OGS and Crane Hogan Structural Systems, Inc. signed a contract for re-construction of the garage. The original amount of the contract was $6,690,262.00. The contract was approved by the State Attorney General on April 17, 2008 and by the State Comptroller on May 6, 2008. Neither the City of Binghamton nor the County of Broome has responsibility for administration of the contract.
Posted: 9/8/2009 12:22 pm
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