DISTRICT, BUILDER SETTLE WESTSIDE TO PAY $900,000 TO SCHOOL CONTRACTOR.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer PALMDALE - Westside Union School District has agreed to pay $900,000 to the general contractor A general contractor is an organization or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction of a building, road or any other execution of work or facility. of Esperanza School to settle a lawsuit the company filed claiming the district owed it money. J. Murrey mur·rey n. See mulberry. [Middle English murrei, from Old French more, from Latin m Construction Inc., when it filed its lawsuit in May 2004, sought nearly $2.5 million for work done in the school, which was plagued by construction delays and opened eight months behind schedule. The lower settlement amount was reached through ``a lot of skillful skill·ful adj. 1. Possessing or exercising skill; expert. See Synonyms at proficient. 2. Characterized by, exhibiting, or requiring skill. negotiation and the fact that there's a surety bond surety bond An insurance fee required before a duplicate security is issued to replace one that has been lost. The fee is approximately 4% of the market value of the security to be replaced. involved,'' Superintendent Regina Rossall said. The board at Tuesday's meeting approved the settlement, which was reached in early June. Attorneys for J. Murrey did not return telephone calls seeking comment. The $6.3 million school opened in August 2003, eight months behind schedule and with the main building, which houses the cafeteria and school office, not finished. The delay was attributed to problems in design and in scheduling tasks, getting materials and putting enough workers on the job to get the work done promptly, district officials had said previously. The contractor's lawsuit blamed the school district for the delay. Esperanza is on 10 acres close to Town Center Drive and Bolz Ranch Road, near the Rancho Vista golf course and an adjoining five acres designated for a city park. With no cafeteria when it first opened, students at first ate outdoors under canopies erected on the school grounds. When the weather got colder, lunch was served indoors in a room that had been designated as a band room. Esperanza took in pupils who otherwise would have attended Quartz Hill, Rancho Vista and Cottonwood cottonwood: see willow. cottonwood Any of several fast-growing North American trees of the genus Populus. Members of the willow family, cottonwoods have heart-shaped, toothed leaves and cottony seeds. The dangling leaves clatter in the wind. elementary schools elementary school: see school. . The project was financed with about $4.7 million in state aid and an extension of a school construction tax approved by Westside voters in 1998. Esperanza was Westside's first new campus since Sundown School, completed in 1994. Esperanza - Spanish for ``hope'' - was the name of a west Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley farming community in the early 1900s and was one of the elementary districts that combined decades ago to form Westside Union. The district office is in what used to be Esperanza School. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com |
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