City disappointed in lack of progress at senior center

A general contractor didn't fulfill its obligation, and renovation work remains unfinished on a Neosho public building, causing potential safety hazards for seniors, the city said.

Last summer, Webb City-based Darin Miller Construction was hired for $476,371 to build a 2,300-square-foot addition on the city-owned Newton County Senior Citizens Center and to remodel the interior.

While the expansion was completed on time, the project was left with several loose strings, city officials say. However, the subcontractors say they haven't been getting paid by Miller Construction, the general contractor.

City Attorney Steve Hays deferred all questions to city personnel.

Desiree Bridges, communications director, said safety issues at the unfinished senior center include hanging guttering, exposed ceilings, open wires and non-ADA compliant restrooms.

A lot of the work was also done shoddily, Bridges said. In two of the four new restrooms, the ceramic tile work must be completely redone, she said, and there are no mopboards along the walls.

The other two restrooms haven't even been touched, she said.

"They're just a hollow room," she said. "No toilets, no sinks, no fixtures whatsoever."

On the exterior of the building, the soffit doesn't match, and Bridges said it looks like it was pieced together from leftover materials. She also said there was supposed to be landscaping and a flagpole near the outside courtyard, neither of which are present.

Attempts by the Daily News to contact Darrin Miller Construction for comment Thursday were unsuccessful. Phone calls made to the Webb City office were not answered and there apparently isn't a voicemail system in place.

Meanwhile, the subcontractors have sent letters to the city demanding payment.

However, before any previous pay requests by Darin Miller Construction were approved, they were accompanied by lien-waivers from the subcontractors, Bridges said. One weekly check was to be written out to Darin Miller Construction, with the legal understanding that the company would pay the subcontractors out of that amount.

There is the possibility, Bridges said, that some of the lien-waivers might have been forged. The city attorney is looking into the matter, she said.

At any rate, the subcontractors who allegedly weren't getting paid left the job site as is.

"You can't blame them," Bridges noted. "They've got families to feed."

Acting under emergency measures, city management has hired an independent contractor to finish the renovation work at the senior center, Bridges said. She didn't know when the safety issues or the project as a whole would finally be completed, however.

It is just a "bad situation" all around, she noted.

"We are very disappointed with what we've gotten from Darin Miller - or what we haven't gotten, I should say," Bridges said.

Neosho Daily News