Quincy suspends city hall, library work

QUINCY — The Quincy City Council voted unanimously to effectively suspend further remodeling work on the city hall and the library following trouble-plagued construction work on the city’s new police building.

At a regular Wednesday meeting, the city voted to “delete phases 2 and 3” comprising the city hall and the library remodeling projects from the $5.4 million contract to build a new police station, the city hall, and library.

While council members and staff said little as to why the city effectively suspended the construction contract with Enterprise, Ore.-based Wellens Farwell, construction on the police building was plagued with delays, missing a Sept. 15 deadline to hand the building over to the city.

Quincy did not take possession of the police building and declare it “substantially complete” until early October.

“It is complicated,” City Attorney Allan Galbraith said. “We are assessing the way the contract went.”

According to City Engineer Ariel Belino, Quincy has paid nearly $3.8 million to Wellens Farwell for the police building.

The “deletion” leaves the city hall and library remodeling projects up in the air, though Galbraith said the city still intends to go through with the remodeling projects.

“The city council is studying what to do,” Galbraith said. “Nothing is set in stone.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.