Peachtree City’s $1.8 million police headquarters, opened in 2001, is undergoing $593,000 in repairs to prevent moisture from entering the building.

That cost will go up, as problems have been discovered with exterior walls that must be repaired or replaced. An architect is consulting with the city on problems with exterior walls that are not being fixed under the current repair project.

City taxpayers are footing the bill as the statute of limitations has expired on any potential legal action, according to City Attorney Ted Meeker. In addition to the construction work, the city is paying $112,000 to rent a temporary police station for nine months.

The city last year financed $800,000 for the repair project, which will be repaid over 15 years with quarterly payments of $17,757, according to City Finance Director Paul Salvatore. If the project exceeds the loan, the city plans to pay cash, most likely from the contingency account set aside for public improvement projects, Salvatore added.

City officials have resisted calls to completely scrap the building and rebuild a new police headquarters elsewhere. The city estimates it would cost $3 million to do that, assuming the city also needed to purchase a new site.

New city Councilman Don Haddix wondered at the Jan. 3 council meeting why the building hasn’t been scrapped completely.

“Why are we struggling so hard to save that site,” Haddix asked. “That site has been known to be a bad site since day one. There’s bad construction, workmanship materials. There’s bad design in it. I don’t understand what we’re trying to save.”

City Manager Bernie McMullen said if the city rebuilt a new station, it would have to pay for some facets of the current building that are fine, including the electrical, communications and roofing systems, along with the steel work.

“We haven’t reached the point where it’s cheaper to demolish this and build a new building,” said City Engineer David Borkowski.

Haddix said his 20 years of experience in construction tell him the city should abandon the building. It could turn out the city faces the same problems in the next three to four years despite the current repairs, he said.

“I’m not going to argue. That building was not constructed the way it should have been,” said McMullen, who was not city manager at the time the project was approved and built. “There’s absolutely no argument there. But what we’re going to get from this architectural firm is much better design in terms of specifications and the way exterior walls need to be constructed. So what you’re going to get is a standard design for that exterior surface we select. ... The same thing all good buildings in this whole area use for their design standards.”

Haddix said water entered from the floor area in to sheetrock, beginning at the exterior walls and being heavy towards the outside of the wall. The problem appears to be coming from the foundation and a wall cavity into the floor, he said.

Borkowski told council recently that the outside of the walls were not built per the construction plans and had issues with flashing and weep holes. That’s just part of the problem, though, he said.

McMullen said the gypsum board didn’t go up to the bottom beam of the construction, which contributed to the high moisture levels.

McMullen said part of the building’s problems could be tied to construction, and part of them were attributable to the architectural oversight during construction.

“I have no expectation we’re going to have any of those type problems with the firm we’re using now,” McMullen said. “... Yes, we’re spending a lot of money on a building that’s only six years old that we shouldn’t be spending.”

City Attorney Ted Meeker told council recently that the city can’t file suit against either the architect, Don Cobb and Associates, nor the main contractor, Leslie Contracting of Fayetteville.

The discrepancies between the plans and what was actually constructed were discovered after the six-year statute of limitations period ran out, Meeker said. Same with the design issues, where Georgia law only offers a two-year window, he added.

Meeker said the consultants on the repair work aren’t sure where to attribute the blame for the discrepancies between what was planned and what was actually constructed.

“You add it all up from a legal perspective and unfortunately it was not worth pursuing,” Meeker said.

Wayne Leslie of Leslie Contracting said the city inspected construction routinely throughout the process. He noted that there was a punch list of items to be handled and also a warranty period for the building.

“In every instance Leslie Contracting has addressed every issue that was brought to our attention through the official process,” Leslie said.

Leslie said he was not willing to address criticisms that have only been aired in the newspaper, adding that he hasn’t seen any official reports on the problems found at the headquarters building.

Leslie also said that he learned about the construction dump near the construction site of the police headquarters from newspaper accounts, not from city officials or other avenues. Then-City Manager Jim Basinger has said the dump was at the rear of the 5.5 acres and not where the police building was constructed.

The land was purchased in 1999 for $140,000 from Peachtree City Holdings, an arm of Pathway Communities, during the administration of then-Mayor Robert Lenox, who later defended the project. An environmental study of the site showed no contaminants in soil samples taken from the site.

“We had nothing to do with site selection,” Leslie said, noting that his firm was chosen for the project because it was the lowest bidder.

Leslie noted that his firm has built about 40 buildings in Fayette County and more than 300 commercial projects.

“Our reputation speaks for itself,” Leslie said. “I have not been informed through the proper channels at any point of time ... about any defect that has not been addressed by our firm.”

A change order to improve the supports for the heating, ventilation and cooling units is on the way and also will add to the costs of the current rehab work.

The ongoing work has involved ripping out the tile and carpet flooring, demolition of a number of walls that had moisture problems and replacement of some duct work and also the HVAC system. In addition to the construction costs, the city is also paying $112,000 to rent the police department’s current location at the former Gold’s Gym on north Commerce Drive for nine months.

McMullen said the city has a total of $557,000 left in its contingency fund, including the money for the current budget year, some of which could be used to pay for repairs.