BAD STORY FOR VALLEY: LIBRARIES LEFT IN LIMBO.

Byline: Beth Barrett and Lisa Mascaro Staff Writers

Construction of two new libraries in the San Fernando Valley stopped about two months ago when the main contractor got into financial trouble and city officials still are scrambling to sort out the problems and get the work going again.

The snafu has angered residents in Chatsworth, where there's nothing but a hole in the ground, and in Sun Valley, where the shell of the new library is up and secondary work has resumed.

City officials said the projects, the only two problems that have emerged from the massive 33-library building program, could be delayed three to four months, depending on how long it takes to sort out legal issues and hire new contractors.

Council members representing the communities said they're frustrated that it's two Valley libraries that have encountered problems.

``I am really annoyed that this had to be the library with construction problems,'' said Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who represents the Sun Valley area. ``Our constituents deserve better.

``We are urging the library and city attorney to work as quickly as possible. I will stay on top of this to ensure that another contractor is selected within the next few months and the project resumed.''

City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents Chatsworth, said he was briefed by library staffers about a week ago on the problem and vowed to keep ``nagging'' officials to make sure the project gets done.

``I think it's bad for the community,'' Bernson said. ``My concern was how long of a delay it would be.''

Since the contractor, Anderson/White of Orange County, pulled out because of financial problems, the city and the contractor's bonding company have been trying to sort out the fiscal mess.

In the meantime, the communities - including many lower-income neighborhoods where children depend heavily on educational materials in Spanish and English to do their homework - will have to rely on a very scaled-back express library in Chatsworth, and a bookmobile in Sun Valley.

The Sun Valley library is not expected to open until mid-2003, and Chatsworth's not until late 2003.

Voters approved a $178.3 million bond for new libraries in 1998, and $16 million more has been raised through grants, donations and interest earnings.

The attorney for the Hartford Fire Insurance Co., which provided the surety bond for the company, confirmed that the contractors have left the projects, and appear to be ``without substantial assets.''

Jonathan Dunn, the Irvine lawyer representing Hartford, said Anderson/White officials notified the bond company in late July or early August that the company could not complete the city projects because of what it termed ``financial difficulties,'' and that Hartford then contacted the city. Dunn said there's been no notification of a formal bankruptcy filing.

Anderson/White officials could not be reached for comment.

Jon Eshbach, a Sun Valley Area Chamber of Commerce vice president and president of the Sun Valley Neighborhood Improvement Organization, said temporary measures - the additional bookmobile, and extended hours at other libraries several miles away - aren't enough.

``There are a lot of youth in the area that used that library after school for homework purposes, to use the computers in there, and now they have no place to go,'' Eshbach said.

``They can go to Panorama City, but that's quite a trip. A lot of these people don't have cars or parents with cars available to take them out there when school's out. Adjacent to where the library is located are some large housing projects that are low-income with a lot of kids in them, and they use the library as a resource, as a place to go to do their homework.''

Eshbach, who tried unsuccessfully to get a trailer for a temporary library, said many of the children who had used the old library now are left to ``hang out in the park.''

Chatsworth's express library near the train station does a fraction of the business the old branch did before it closed at the end of January.

Tina Hanson, acting library manager for the West Valley area, said patrons of the express station have checked out 1,800 to 1,900 books and other materials per month recently. That compares with a monthly average of 7,774 books and materials checked out when the branch was open.

Peter Persic, spokesman for the city's library system, said stresses on the Valley's libraries in particular are due more to the wider retooling of the system than to the contractor-caused delays at Sun Valley and Chatsworth.

``There's definitely a stress on the system,'' Persic said. ``But it's more a function of the overall bond project than a slowdown in these two specific projects.''

City officials defended the selection of Anderson/White, saying it was the lowest responsive bidder at $5.8 million for both libraries.

The city paid nearly $1.5 million before the firm ceased work, said Alex McMasters, division chief for the municipal facilities construction division, Bureau of Contract Administration with the Department of Public Works.

Sam Tanaka, program manager for libraries for the Bureau of Engineering, said the contractor ``absolutely'' met city requirements.

Dunn, the bond company's lawyer, said his firm is in the process of engaging contractors to complete the work. Hartford might oversee the completion of the half-done Sun Valley library, but a new contractor might deal directly with the city to finish the Chatsworth library.

``The folks at Anderson/White have been cooperative with the surety (company), and in trying to respond to the needs of the project. They don't blame the city of Los Angeles,'' Dunn said.

City officials grew concerned when they learned that the contractor was encountering financial problems on a Costa Mesa project earlier this year because Anderson/White also was the apparent winner of a $3.5 million bid to build the new Canoga Park library.

Anderson/White failed to show up on the job site in early July and was subsequently fired, said Costa Mesa project manager and senior engineer Fariba Fazeli.

At that point, Los Angeles public works officials said it was mutually agreed that Anderson/White would bow out of Canoga Park, but that - based on company officials' assurances - it would finish the Chatsworth and Sun Valley libraries.

But not long afterward, Hanford notified the city of the company's inability to continue, Tanaka said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 maps

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kids wait for the bus near the site of the new Chatsworth Library on Devonshire Street.

(2) Laurell De La Cruz thumbs through mysteries at the much-smaller temporary library at the Old Depot Plaza in Chatsworth.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Map:

(1) Library site

CHATSWORTH

(2) Library site

SUN VALLEY