WSU Animal Hospital Suit Nears Settlement School Agrees To Mediation; Subcontractors File Lawsuits Of Their Own

Washington State University officials are close to resolving an $8.9 million dispute over construction of the university’s new veterinary teaching hospital.

But even as the university appears to be nearing a settlement with the hospital contractor, a host of subcontractors’ lawsuits threaten to mire WSU in more legal trouble.

Last week, WSU regents gave the school the go-ahead to mediate a settlement with Morgan & Oswood Construction of Great Falls, Mont. Morgan & Oswood headed construction of the $38 million animal hospital touted as state-of-the-art by WSU officials.

Seventeen subcontractors have filed additional claims against Morgen & Oswood and WSU for work for which they’ve not yet been paid, according to documents filed in Whitman County Superior Court.

The subcontractors cannot be paid until the project is complete, and the project can’t be finalized until after WSU and Morgen & Oswood reach agreement on the $8.9 million in disputed costs.

“There are obvious problems on both sides, but we don’t think it’s $8.9 million, and that’s why we were willing to go to arbitration,” said Sallie Giffen, WSU vice president for business affairs.

“It’s a very complex business, and when it comes to who caused the delays, there’s the domino effect. It’s not a simple thing to resolve.”

Morgen & Oswood representatives did not respond to repeated telephone calls Thursday and Friday.

Disagreements began in late 1993, when wet weather caused delays, and a misjudged frost line required some portions of the foundation be repoured. The contractor and WSU disagreed over the amount of additional expenses and how many days’ extension should result. Arbitration between the two parties has been ongoing for several years.

In court documents, WSU denies any responsibility for costs or delays incurred due to “acts of God.” But Giffen said WSU did request some changes along the way.

For example, architectural plans had to be altered after WSU received supplemental funding for new equipment that required changes in the facility’s original design.

There have been other problems that WSU maintains were not the university’s fault. Last fall, bottled water was shipped to the building for several days after elevated lead levels were detected in the new drinking-water supply system.

According to Giffen, there is $700,000 of work that still must be completed or corrected.

“It’s just a lot of little things we are talking about,” she said. Some of the flooring in the animal recovery area can’t properly accommodate large animals, for example, and the abrasive texture of some of the flooring could damage horses’ hooves.

“We have a lot of floors coming apart and other areas not installed according to specifications so they are not functioning safely,” said Karl White, a veterinary clinical sciences professor. “We are just not using those particular rooms.”

Animal hospitals like WSU’s are much more difficult to build than human hospitals, Giffen said, with facilities that must withstand animals weighing more than 1,000 pounds. There are only 20 such hospitals in the nation.

A settlement in the arbitration between the contractor and WSU is expected within the next three weeks, Giffen said.

, DataTimes