Town Enters Mediation Talks With FHS Contractor

     The Empire State Building was finished in roughly 18 months, so why is it taking so long to finish House A at Falmouth High School?
     The question was brought up at Thursday’s Falmouth High School Building Committee meeting by one resident, but no answers were given, only more questions and frustrations, particularly with TLT Construction of Wakefield, the general contractor.
     The project, started in 2005—now nearly two years behind schedule and $19 million overbudget—only seems to be getting worse.
     Patrick J. Callahan, building committee member, said the frustrations that residents have expressed are shared by his fellow board members. “It has been extremely frustrating for everyone in here,” he said.
     Since he was appointed to the board in May, he said, the committee has been trying to figure out a way to get TLT to answer questions and complete phase one by the August 8 deadline.
     While he would like to be on the site with a hammer and nails finishing House A, he admitted, “They have to do that.”
     Unfortunately, Michael A. Duffany said, “there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency on their part,” as TLT and their subcontractors are often done at the site by 3:30 PM, at which time the high school becomes “a ghost town.”
     As to whether the town will continue with TLT, committee member John K. Scanlan said, they are entering mediation talks with the firm, utilizing an outside agency to determine if the two sides can come to some sort of resolution. 
     Prior to mediation, he said, a meeting between town officials and Christopher R. Cormier, executive vice president of TLT, and Thomas Kostinden, TLT’s president, was scheduled for Monday last week, then rescheduled to Friday, but then ultimately canceled.
     For David A. Fredd of Tamarack Road, East Falmouth, it was simply reminiscent of TLT’s past performance, pushing back deadlines for phase one from February to April to June and now to August. “They don’t seem to get the message,” he said. “Now we are in jeopardy of going past the beginning of the school year.”
     In recent weeks the town has sent many letters to TLT, some mandating them to finish House A by August 8, others demanding the firm repay $2 million the town has overpaid them, yet Daniel H. Shearer of Chapoquoit Road, West Falmouth, wondered why none of their representatives ever show up for meetings. “This has been going on for [three] years,” Mr. Shearer said.
     “We are trying to get them to the table and pull out all the stops and talk to the owner of the company,” Mr. Callahan said.
     In assessing the situation, Mr. Duffany said, perhaps this will force the state to come up with a better protocol that may put some teeth into the entire process for public building projects like this.
     However, finance committee member Gardner L. Lewis said, as the town moves closer to the August 8 deadline which TLT continues to say will not be met while advocating for a more realistic date of August 22, it is apparent the town has no teeth. All this, he said, is being done without the slightest ripple.
     Mr. Scanlan disagreed, arguing that by sending letters to TLT, the town has a plan in place and that the next letter on August 8 will go to their bonding company.
     “That is our teeth,” Mr. Callahan said, adding that this will be one way to ensure the building is occupied by the start of school if it does not look as if TLT can meet the deadline.
     This is complicated by last week’s news that the state plans on decertifying TLT, which the construction firm is contesting in court. Mr. Scanlan said a hearing is scheduled on the matter this week and may determine how decertification impacts this project.
     Project manager Jonathan T. Depina from Gilbane of Needham, said if TLT is decertified “which is what appears to be happening,” then the firm would not be allowed to bid on public building projects for a year. “That has no bearing on jobs they are already contracted for,” he said.
     With all this uncertainty, committee member Robert V. Antonucci promised that “we will open phase one for the beginning of school. I put money on it that we will open by September.” That, he said, is of utmost priority despite all the frustrations and concerns of recent weeks.