News | Peachtree City

PTC postpones vote on police station

Fri, 02/22/2008 - 7:25am
By: The Citizen

Citing the pending receipt of further information on the matter, the Peachtree City Council Thursday night tabled a vote to authorize $720,000 in repairs for the city's police headquarters.

The figure includes an additional four months of rent to keep the department at its current temporary facility on Commerce Drive near Aberdeen Parkway off Ga. Highway 74 north.

No one publicly revealed the nature of the additional information that was expected, but City Manager Bernie McMullen said meetings on the issue were planned in the coming week. The matter will be re-examined at the next council meeting March 6.

The repairs would have replaced all the exterior walls of the structure, which have been deemed to be a significant culprit in moisture intrusion in the building. The moisture led to problems with mold and mildew in addition to flooring that peeled up from the foundation. The moisture also damaged ceiling tiles and drywall, despite the use of industrial-sized dehumidifiers.

The building was opened in 2001 at a cost of $1.8 million. It was built by Leslie Construction and designed by Don Cobb and Associates. City Attorney Ted Meeker has said the statute of limitations has run out on any chance to seek damages against either firm.

If the latest repairs are improved, it brings the total repair amount to $1.1 million for the facility.

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Signs Of Intellegent Life From PTC City Council
Spear Road Guy's picture
Submitted by Spear Road Guy on Fri, 02/22/2008 - 12:15pm.

For the love of God, don't let Harold Logsdon run us in the ground on this disaster too. Logsdon is probably the least intelligent person ever to hold elected office in Fayette County.

Why would anyone want to spend that kind of money to repair that building on that bad piece of real estate?

I was at the meeting where Cyndi Plunkett asked the city's attorney if the repairs were guaranteed to work and the guy said they weren't.

The fault is on the shoulders of Bob Lenox, Jim Pace and Dan Tennant for kissing up to Doug Mitchell and buying his piece of crap property.

Vote Republican


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Police HQ: statute of limitations
secret squirrel's picture
Submitted by secret squirrel on Fri, 02/22/2008 - 9:32am.

Something doesn't make sense here. I am not an expert in Georgia civil code but it seems there are two types of defects in construction which are implicated in this case.

1) Patent defects- those construction defects which are readily apparent either through observation and measurement or through immediate occupancy and operation of a facility.

I can understand the short statute of limitations on this type of defect; these are things which a post-construction inspection should reveal quickly. These statutes are generally only a few years (1-3).

2) Latent defects- these are the less-visible defects which can worsen with time and only then become apparent or can be a series of small defects reflecting a poor construction practice which coalesce into a structural failure before being visible.

The statute of limitations on latent defects tends to be much longer than that for patent defects (sometimes 10-15 years longer) and can actually be extended if willful misconduct or disregard for codes can be proven.

If Georgia has an especially short statute of limitations on latent defects, then I would agree with Meeker.

However, if this is not the case then a new question arises. Either these items were readily apparent and qualify as patent defects and they were never addressed legally with Don Cobb and Leslie Construction OR they are latent defects which should be covered by a longer statute of limitations, regardless of their causality.


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