Lea issues notice of contract termination

Lea County issued a notice of termination for a contract with HB Construction on Thursday, claiming HB's work failed to conform to the requirements of their contract documents.

HB is also in a contract with Curry County for the renovation and construction of facilities at its Adult Detention Center.

Lea County issued a letter stating it was considering declaring HB in default of the contract on Feb. 28, after which it held a meeting with HB on March 20 to develop a framework for which HB could complete the project by April.

Lea County claims HB did not meet that deadline and so it arranged another meeting on May 13 where it says HB agreed to complete the project by July, to which the county claims the project was still not substantially complete.

HB President Matt Mulligan issued a response disputing Lea County's claims and asserting that the project has had a certificate of occupancy since July 11 and claiming HB attempted to arrange a walkthrough with Lea county staff and the architect of record on five separate occasions to close, but have been denied.

Lea County cites significant delay time as one of their reasons for termination, stating the original close date was Aug. 28, 2018 and despite 14 change orders throughout the life of the project, no additional time was ever added to the contract.

The project began Jan. 30, 2017 and substantial completion was to be achieved within 575 days.

Mulligan noted that the project incurred many significant delays that were out of HB's control, most notably a flood in May of 2018 that created a 208-day delay.

Lea County also claims HB's work was found to contain significant deficiencies when reviewed by RMKM Architecture, which stated many critical elements of the project remain incomplete or non-conforming. The county said that after bringing these issues to HB's attention, some were corrected, but not all.

Mulligan stated that HB is looking to resolve this matter in a timely manner.

HB recently resolved setbacks with its Curry project relating to the approval of a sally port pending the connection of appropriate fire alarm systems, which prevented further work on parts of the facility until resolved. Said issues were corrected with a temporary certificate of occupancy that would allow work to continue.

Representatives from HB stated said the delay might push the close date of the project back from December to February, but HB still working to re-evaluate the project's timeline. HB expects to present an updated timeline with its report during the Oct. 15 Curry County Commissioner's meeting.

Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said that the issues presented by Lea County have been a subject of concern for Curry, but HB has reassured the county that the Curry project is on track.

“They are providing monthly reports to the commission and we are meeting with them weekly on the construction,” Pyle said. “Curry County's focus is on our project and the completion of the detention center's addition and renovation. We're communicating with them and they're actively working on completing our project.”

Mulligan stated that the Curry project is going very well despite some logistics issues arising from upgrading the existing facilities infrastructure.

“All parties involved have worked very closely to creatively solve each challenge as they arise. We appreciate Curry County and its commitment to HB Construction, and we look forward to a successful completion of the detention center project in the coming months,” Mulligan said in a statement to The News.