City holding on to $300,000 of ballpark construction money
The City of El Paso is holding on to a fraction of the ballpark construction payment until the contractor completely finishes or rectifies some things at the stadium.
The City’s $64 million contract with general contractor CF Jordan/ Hunt includes a retainage, which is a percentage of payment the City withholds until the completion of the project to ensure the work is done according to specifications. A retainage is required in big construction projects headed by a public agency.
The total retainage for the ballpark project is $2.7 million. According to the City’s Interim Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Mark Sutter, the City has paid $2.4 million of that but is withholding about $330,000.
Sutter said the City will release the remaining funds when the contractor adds a handrail to the top of the outfield wall, replaces glass in a suite, does miscellaneous landscape corrections, seals around the handrail penetrations and makes some drink rails and counter tops ADA (americans with Disabilites Act) compliant, among other minor changes.
“The retainage is the last piece that helps to ensure that in this case the city has some leverage with the construction company to actually finish the work to the point of satisfaction,” said Dr. Sutter.
Ed Anderson, owner of Diversified Interiors was owed $150,000 for the finishes his company did on the ballpark, like the ceiling and drywall.”It’s a great venue. It looks wonderful. I’ve even paid for my season tickets for next year but yet I’m owed 5% of my 3 million dollar contract as we speak today and no one can tell me why or when we’ll be paid,” he said Tuesday. Two days after his interview with ABC-7, Anderson and another subcontractor owed $500,000 were paid in full.
The City must pay the general contractor and then CF Jordan pays the subcontractors.
Sutter said CF Jordan applied for the release of the retainage on August 31st but there were still some construction aspects that had to be refined. He added it also took longer to process the retainage because the City Attorney who was handling it left, and another City Attorney had to take over the process, which took some time.
