Wilson County News - Top Stories - Alazan misses deadline for police station work

WCN/WILLIAM J. GIBBS JR.� Reprints at wilsoncountynews.com A lone worker sits idle inside the future police department building Sept. 30. Construction delays have prevented the Floresville Police Department from moving into its new headquarters at the corner of Second and C streets downtown.

Wilson County News
October 7, 2008

FLORESVILLE -- The Oct. 1 deadline has come and gone, but the Floresville Police Depart-ment is still unable to move into its new office building at the corner of Second and C streets downtown.

The project was initially supposed to be completed by Aug. 15, which did not occur because of delays that City Manager Gary Pelech and general contractor Alazan Construction�s owner Joe Moreira blamed on repairs to the building�s electrical system (Wilson County News, Aug. 27).

A second deadline of Sept. 6 was also missed.

But with each missed deadline, the patience of police Chief Daniel Martinez continues to grow thin. When Alazan missed its first deadline, Martinez said he sent Pelech a letter.

�I told him how disappointed I was [with the delays] and that he should get another contractor,� Martinez said. �I told him the city should do whatever it has to do to get the remaining money back from Alazan.�

But Pelech wants to continue with Alazan.

�Right now, that�s neither here nor there,� he said. �Another contractor would mean more money and more delays. The city is holding Alazan to its contract.�

Pelech said Oct. 1 the latest delay in the project is because of repairs to the building�s air-conditioning system, which has set the project back at least one week.

Because of the need for air-conditioning contractors to possess special licenses, someone other than Alazan must perform the work.

Alazan�s contract, signed by both Pelech and Martinez in mid-May, estimated the work would take 12 to 13 weeks to complete. The total cost of the work was not to exceed $30,500.

But as of Oct. 1, Martinez said Alazan informed him and Assistant Chief Andy Joslin that the company has run out of money to complete the job.

�The contractor promised he would devote time to the police department�s construction and he hasn�t done that,� Martinez said. �He promised he could do the work for the amount he was paid. Now he�s finding out that�s not true.�

Martinez thinks the move to the department�s new headquarters will not occur before the end of October.

The county set the Oct. 1 deadline last year, after the Wilson County Sheriff�s Office had expressed the need to expand its current offices within the Wilson County Criminal Justice Center. Since 1996, the police department has been allowed to use offices there rent-free. But that agreement had to be terminated because the sheriff�s office has outgrown its current space.

Martinez said he has spoken with Sheriff Joe D. Tackitt Jr. about the situation, and that Tackitt has agreed to allow the police department to stay in the justice center as long as progress is being made toward completion of the new headquarters.

A telephone call to Moreira was not returned as of press time Oct. 6.