Parties Agree to Settlement in City Hall Project
The parties involved in the litigation regarding the design and construction of the City of Vaughan's new City Hall have reached a $17.125-million settlement to end the litigation.
This settlement will avoid further costly litigation and put an end to the legal action relating to the City Hall construction. The parties involved include Maystar General Contractors Inc., Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects and the City.
The details of the settlement are as follows:
- Total mediated settlement with all parties: $17.125 million
- Rectification of all deficiencies and completion of warranty work on the City Hall building
- The litigation involving the City, the general contractor and the consultant for the new City Hall has ended
Funding for the settlement will be provided from the City's reserves and will not impact property taxes.
“It is time to close this chapter in the City Hall construction project, which began in 2003. By the time this Council took office in December 2010, work on the new City Hall was essentially complete. This new Council took immediate action to understand the complexity of the project, the reasons for the delays and costs by calling for an independent audit in March 2011. As pointed out by the auditors in their 2011 Audit Report, the project experienced delays due to a number of factors, including unforeseen site conditions and design changes. The audit identified that a number of the parties had performance shortcomings that contributed to the delays. Moving forward, Council has considered the recommendations in the 2011 Audit Report and is implementing those recommendations as set out in the public Report to Council, dated June 18, 2013, entitled "Implementation of Recommendations from City Hall Audit," along with other improvements identified by Council and senior management in their post-project review. Reaching a mediated settlement at this time avoids lengthy, very expensive and unpredictable legal proceedings as the claim against the City that was filed in June 2012 was approximately $40 million. The $17.125 million settlement is a compromise for everyone involved in the project and reflects a shared responsibility for the delay of the project.”
- Maurizio
Bevilacqua, Mayor, City of Vaughan on behalf of Council
"Constructing the new City Hall was a complex project - it's a building with many unique design features and was a first-of-its-kind project. An independent audit of the project management processes and the construction costs, undertaken at the conclusion of the project, identified several areas to improve, including the need for a proper level of contingencies and additional levels of reporting. Council and senior management have also conducted a review of the project and identified further process enhancements. We are now in the process of implementing all of those recommendations, which will result in an improved process for future projects."