The Nevada Board of Examiners on Friday voted to pay $5.8 million of the $9.9 million judgment owed contractors in the Southern Nevada Veterans Home case.
And they authorized special counsel Kevin Senn to continue negotiating with the remaining three parties in hopes of getting the remaining $3.9 million owed reduced.
The general contractor Addison Inc. will get a check immediately for $3.35 million and Quality Mechanical a check for $2.5 million. In return for immediate payment instead of another legal battle, Addison agreed to take a $104,000 cut and Quality a $50,000 reduction. They also agreed to forego 13 days of interest on the arbitrator's judgment, saving the state nearly $20,000 more.
The board, consisting of Gov. Kenny Guinn, Secretary of State Dean Heller and Attorney General George Chanos, told Senn to continue working out similar deals with Mojave Electric, Jetstream and the insurance agent for the project, National Fire. Once those negotiations are done, they authorized Director of Administration Andrew Clinger to pay the remainder of the judgment.
If none of the three agree to any reduction, that would come to $3.9 million more from the state's Tort Claims Fund plus $13,000 in interest as of Friday. Guinn urged Senn to get the deals completed as soon as possible since interest will continue to add $2,768 a day to the total cost.
A panel of three arbitrators ruled June 17 that the state was completely at fault for delays, cost over-runs and workmanship problems during construction of the veterans home in Boulder City. The case ended up in court after the state fired Addison as contractor and hired another firm to finish the job.
The judgment includes some $5.4 million in legal fees.
When the judgment is added to the original budget of just under $16 million plus the cost over-runs and the state's legal fees - an estimated $3.9 million - the total cost of the veterans home will top $35 million.
• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.