by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City’s negotiations with BellSouth over the relocation of hundreds of thousands of feet of communication lines under the new Duval County Courthouse are proceeding like the work itself: deliberately and without a definite end.
The City is pressing the utility to give a concrete completion date so work on the building’s foundation can be scheduled. Once the lines are moved, the City will have a narrow window to get as much prep work done as possible before construction stops for the Super Bowl.
According to e–mails sent between attorneys for BellSouth and the City, the utility is balking at the City’s attempt to attach a penalty to the contract for a missed August deadline. BellSouth attorney Sharon Liebman said the City’s proposal was too “broad, undefined and open–ended.”
The City proposed Aug. 15, as the deadline for BellSouth to complete its work. Liebman refused. The City previously told BellSouth that it expected the work to be complete by mid-August so the City’s work could begin. The contract proposed by the City would have accepted a delay if it resulted from “circumstances . . . beyond BellSouth’s control.” However it also stipulated, “the BellSouth work cannot delay the courthouse completion schedule.”
BellSouth is wary that the deadline language could lead to financial penalties. The question of who will pay for the $3 million project is still undecided. According to a memorandum of understanding, both parties reserve the right to haggle about the project’s cost following its completion.
In her e–mail to the City, Liebman complained that the deadline proposal was too vague.
“We don’t know what the City’s schedule calls for — maybe someone would seek to argue that the work has already delayed the schedule? What is the contemplated ‘penalty’ for delay? Who decides if the work has, in fact, delayed the schedule? These are just a few of the questions the language generates,” she said.
Liebman said BellSouth agreed to do the work with payment unresolved to minimize delays. The current agreement with the City doesn’t bind the utility to a construction timeline, she said, and BellSouth won’t agree to one after the fact.
Keeping the courthouse construction on schedule was the City’s primary consideration when it agreed to defer questions about the cost of utility work. The City agreed to front what it claimed was BellSouth’s fair share of project cost, while reserving the right to seek later reimbursement. BellSouth agreed to pay to install and test the cable.
Shortly before the utility work began, Boruch said the City hoped BellSouth would work “expeditiously” to complete the work.
In addition to clearing the way for construction on the courthouse’s foundation, the utility work has allowed the City and JEA to replace thousands of feet of decaying lines.
“The project has been worthwhile just from an infrastructure and repair standpoint,” said Boruch. “When we opened the street up, it looked like a bowl of spaghetti down there.”