Legal troubles weigh on Elk Grove’s aquatic center, costing the city thousands

Shuttered by the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, Elk Grove’s aquatic center would have marked its second year in operation this month. The expansive project, complete with a lazy river and two swimming pools, opened with great fanfare last May after a decade of false starts and delays.

One year later and Elk Grove is still entangled in a lawsuit stemming from the construction that has cost the city nearly a quarter of a million dollars in legal fees. The case was filed last July in state court against the project’s general contractor after cracks formed in a common area paved with concrete.

To date, Elk Grove has paid the Sacramento law firm Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard some $240,000 for legal counsel for the case, according to a record of payments obtained from the city. The heftiest payments to the firm started earlier this year.

The city found a number of cracks and “chunks of concrete” coming out of the ground that indicated poor workmanship before the aquatic center opened, said City Manager Jason Behrmann. Although the company repaved the common area and now the courts will decide if Elk Grove owes them more money to do it.

“We don’t know whose fault it is; all we know is we hired you to build it and you to design it and we have problems,” Behrmann said. “And the problems, fortunately, got fixed but we’re going to file this lawsuit.”

The case is meandering through Sacramento Superior Court. Behrmann said the city sought mediation at first when the companies disputed whether the design or the construction was to blame. The lawsuit was filed preemptively and accuses them of breach of contract and negligence, he said.

A string of lawsuits

In an early court filing, the city asked for unspecified damages from multiple companies tied to the project including Arntz Builders, which bid the lowest in 2017 to construct the $31 million aquatic center. Other companies tied to the project were also named in the lawsuit, including the engineering firm Willdan, design group SWA and Big B Construction.

Another lawsuit was filed in January 2020, by Orland-based Rackley Co, a subcontractor on the project, naming the city and two other companies and accusing them of breach of contract. But there were no costs associated with the case and it was recently dismissed, Behrmann said.

The aquatic center project has long been a source of controversy for the city. The concept was first seeded in 2007 until the Great Recession derailed the endeavor. It emerged repeatedly over the years with varying degrees of ambition.

The plan was revived again in 2013 when the city hired a firm called P3 International to design, build and manage an aquatic center. The relationship ended in 2015 with a lawsuit and allegations the firm misrepresented its credentials, The Bee reported at the time. After shelling out more than $500,000 to the company, the city alleged no design or financing plan was submitted on time.

Elk Grove asked a judge to dismiss the case in February 2016, court records show.

The most recent plan was approved in 2017 when Arntz Builders was hired. The center is operated by the Cosumnes Community Services District.

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 9:45 AM.