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BMX track subcontractors sue city

 
Published Oct. 7, 2015

OLDSMAR — The city fired the construction company performing upgrades to the Oldsmar BMX Supercross Track on Oct. 1 after lawsuits filed against the city last month by two subcontractors alleging they have not been paid for their work.

City Manager Bruce Haddock said city employees will finish the railing installation and landscaping remaining on the $2.1 million project and that the work will be completed in time for the 2015 Gator Nationals event there, which starts Oct. 16.

"It will all be done," Haddock said of the renovations, which began in March.

Oldsmar terminated its contract with Tampa Bay Construction and Engineering for failing to pay its subcontractors, failing to supply enough workers and materials to complete the project in accordance with specifications and for not having a superintendent on site consistently, according to the termination letter.

Attorneys fees and completion costs in excess of the city's original $1.4 million contract with Tampa Bay Construction will be billed to the company.

Tampa Bay Construction president Ahmad Erchid declined to comment.

In separate lawsuits filed in circuit court last month, subcontractors Braughton Construction and Axiom Companies allege they have not been paid by Tampa Bay Construction after "numerous disputes." The companies allege they were then unable to file a claim against Tampa Bay Construction because they could not obtain the surety bond information from the city.

The lawsuit alleges the subcontractors reached out to Oldsmar leisure services director Lynn Rives "on multiple occasions to request (Tampa Bay Construction's) surety information" but did not receive it and were sued by their vendors for nonpayment as a result.

Haddock said Monday the bond was properly recorded in public records and that the "proper course of redress for the subcontractors is with the bonding company, not the city."

Contact Tracey McManus at tmcmanus@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4151. Follow @TroMcManus.