T-R FILE PHOTO The new joint Marshalltown Police Department/Fire Department under construction in the 900 block of South Second Street.

Marshalltown Public Works Director Justin Nickel told the Marshalltown City Council at Tuesday’s regular meeting estimated completion of the new joint police and fire facility is Aug. 31.

That date could be revised again if weather or other construction-related factors interfere. When construction started on the not-to-exceed $17.5 million dollar project in fall of 2017, officials estimated a December 2018 opening date. That date was later revised to March of this year and then June 15.

While weather and and construction material delivery delays have played a part in the completion date revisions, the city’s selection of Corrado Construction of Omaha, Neb. to install masonry on the building has played a significant role.

Corrado Construction entered into a contract with the city for masonry services in September 2017, according to the city’s agreement with International Fidelity Insurance Co., Corrado’s performance bond company.

Corrado Construction later hired Kristopher Contractors LLC of Omaha as a subcontractor. Kristopher Contractors had workers on site more than one year ago.

However, Corrado Construction defaulted on their contract earlier this year. As a result of Corrado’s default, International Fidelity Insurance Co. selected Carmona Construction of Omaha, Neb. to complete Corrado’s original contract. Carmona also agreed to repair any defects to be found and determined to exist in already completed work that would have been the responsibility of Corrado, according to the council resolution passed April 10 of this year.

“We found it necessary to have the bonding company selected by Corrado Homes, doing business as Corrado Construction, get involved,” City Administrator Jessica Kinser said at that meeting. “The agreement approved by the city council this with International Fidelity Insurance Co. will finish the project at the cost it was bid. International Fidelity Insurance Co. selected Carmona Construction to complete the work at the bid cost.”

Nickel said he has been pleased with that company’s work.

“They have been doing excellent work at an excellent pace,” Nickel said.

“It is good to see the brick going up,” Mayor Joel Greer said.

When first ward councilor Sue Cahill asked Tuesday night if the city could have done anything differently in the selection of Corrado Construction, Kinser said the city correctly followed Chapter 26 of the Code of Iowa when it selected Corrado Construction because they had submitted the lowest, most responsible bid.

“Had we not selected Corrado Construction at the beginning, we might have opened the city up to a lawsuit before construction ever started,” Nickel said. “Consequently, instead of looking at the project being delayed until Aug. 31, it could have been a year or more.”

The selection of Corrado Construction was met with disapproval by the local bricklayers union when bids where announced. Bricklayers union representatives spoke out against Corrado Construction at city council meetings and urged the city to select a union contractor in Strawberry Point which had also bid on the project albeit unsuccessfully.

Corrado Construction back charges

Not only did the Corrado Construction default slow progress, Nickel also said numerous contractors on site had to do some of Corrado’s work which have resulted in “back charges.”

“The overlying theme to the majority of the $361,000 in change orders (which were on the agenda for council approval) is expenditures for work that other trades have undertaken,” Nickel said. “Other contractors did some of Corrado’s work, loaned equipment or materials.”

Those change orders ranged from $369 by Black Hawk Roofing Co., to $32,277 for steel for Central Wester Fabricators to $8,205 to Con-Struct, Inc. for demolition and earth work.

Cahill, councilor-at-large Bill Martin and second ward councilor Gabe Isom expressed concern the city was paying for significant amount of change order expense relating to Corrado’s default.

“No one is pleased having to vote for these change orders,” Cahill said.

One resident asked for more clarification.

“i would ask you elaborate more on these charges,” he said. “I would say if a neighboring construction company caused more cost than they should be taking care of that themselves than the city paying that bill.”

In response, Nickel said the city no longer had a contract with Corrado.

“We will see to get reimbursed for these back charges, but at the moment we have no means to keep the money we owe to Corrado Construction, and we are walking a delicate balance in keeping the new mason working forward so that we have a completed project in a couple of months, as opposed to having all progress stopped,” Nickel said.

Because the city is the primary contractor and then individually contracted with the approximately 15 to 19 trades, the city has to shoulder the risk for these charges until officals can seek reimbursement from other means, Nickel said.

“Just a reminder, when we did approve that agreement with Merchants Bonding Co., it did say liquidated damages were to be determined.” Kinser said. “We are getting into what those liquidated damages are. And ultimately we are still working with our attorney (Lynch Dallas of Cedar Rapids) to make sure the bonding company knows about them so we can seek reimbursement. Merchants Bonding Co. became involved when Corrado defaulted.”

Kinser said at an earlier meeting Iowa Code requires construction companies to have certified performance bonds in place when bidding on city construction projects.

“When a contractor is not able to complete the work, we (the city) have that extra layer of protection with a performance bond,” Kinser said. “This means the work gets completed.

Overall, Nickel said there remains approximately $660,00 in project unencumbered funds which provides a buffer for the extra expenses especially as the project is nearing completion.

Councilors commended Nickel and Greer for attempting to work through a challenging situation. Nickel in turn, complimented Story Construction’s Mike Welter and Ethan Dix, for their efforts in keeping the project moving forward. The city hired Story Construction as project manager in 2017.

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Contact Mike Donahey at

641-753-6611 or

mdonahey@timesrepublican.com