MONTVALE, N.J.—The governing body resolved on March 26 to settle with contractor Unimak in connection with the firehouse project.
The move followed mediation with retired Superior Court Judge Peter E. Doyne.
The project suffered a string of change orders and extensions, leading to a $350,000 lawsuit against the town from Saddle River-based contractor Unimak
The project, at 35 West Grand Ave., was substantially completed May 23, 2018 and enjoyed a family day dedication and grand opening Oct. 6, complete with cotton candy.
The unanimous resolution said settling (at $194,000) had avoided litigation. All sides maintained they were in the right.
Unimak’s allegations of late payment stemmed from an amended cross-claim in a lawsuit brought by a subcontractor over an estimated $30,000 it said it was owed by Unimak.
Borough Attorney Joseph Voytus wrote in a legal response to the claims that they were “frivolous” and “a money grab.”
He added, “Unimak was solely responsible for the scheduling and coordination of the project with utility companies, subcontractors, etc.”
The old firehouse, dedicated in 1955, was in serious need of repair since at least 2008.
In 2010, an architectural assessment revealed numerous cracks throughout the building, worried at its lack of steel supports for a bay, dinged the roof as in poor shape, and found there was mold.
In 2014, when the borough hired Robbie Conley Architect LLC to design the new firehouse, then-Mayor Roger Fyfe told Pascack Press, “It’s just all falling apart. It’s just an old building. If you can get 60 years out of a firehouse, I think that’s great—but the building is only going to get older.”
In December 2015 the governing body approved spending $5.1 million for a new, red and yellow two-story firehouse at 16,000 square feet.
Officials broke ground for the new firehouse in 2016. Mayor Michael Ghassali said at the time that the first spadeful of soil marked the culmination of more than a decade of hard work “to realize a dream and aspiration to have a state-of-the-art, safe and ready to serve firehouse for all of us.”
It finished at just over that cost, Ghassali said.
Meanwhile, Conley has been developing a combined firehouse and ambulance headquarters for the Township of Washington near the Pascack/Washington intersection.