by Ryan Floersheim
and Jeff Proctor
Daily Lobo
Faculty Senate members, one member of the Board of Regents and representatives from the Office of the President were given a formal tour of the SUB Tuesday during which they were updated on the building's progress.
Roger Lujan, director of UNM's Facility Planning Department, and Walt Miller, associate vice president for Student Development, pointed out the various integrated functions of the SUB and that the top two floors are much closer to being completed than the bottom.
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"We were shooting for a May completion date, but since we're going to have to bring in a new contractor, it may take a little bit longer," Lujan said of the SUB project's progress, which was initially supposed to be completed in July 2002. "The last 5 to 10 percent of the project will take the most man-power."
After firing Silver Construction Co., the project's original contractor, on Feb. 20 and giving them seven days to clear the site, UNM extended the company's contract until an adequate replacement could be named.
"This was the most seamless way to ensure that the project gets completed," Lujan said.
Silver Construction was assessed liquidated damages to the tune of $1,500 per day beginning Oct. 18.
It is unclear how many of those fines Silver actually paid, but all collected funds will go back into the project's budget, Lujan said.
Ken Watkins, president of Silver Construction, said his company is helping UNM to find a new contractor.
"We've asked if there's anything we can do to complete the contract," Watkins said.
"Our requests have been met with no reply."
He added that Silver is planning to pursue legal action against the University for terminating the contract.
In a Feb. 27 letter sent to the construction company, Julie Weaks Gutierrez, vice president for Business and Finance at UNM, said that negotiations had begun between UNM and the project's bonding company in search of an adequate replacement to finish the project by the May 1 deadline.
Meanwhile, Silver Construction and its subcontractors, all noted by University administrators as having under-qualified workers on the project and an inability to keep an acceptable work schedule, will continue to be paid.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," said Lujan, when asked whether the same under-qualified workers that partially forced the termination of the contract were still on the job.
He added that UNM hopes to retain all of the sub-contractors' contracts to expedite completion of the SUB.
Miller said that extra time spent on the SUB to make sure that it is done right is worth the wait, but that he did not know whether the same "under-qualified workers" will continue on the SUB project.
"I assure you that there are a lot of checks and balances on this project to ensure that everything is done right," Miller said.
