SOMETHING’S MISSING—A photo taken last week atop the Hillcrest Center in Thousand Oaks shows that no solar panels have been installed. Work to renovate the roof and install more than 600 panels was originally slated to be complete in November, but a dispute between the city and a contractor has led to delays. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Almost $450,000 in state rebates is in jeopardy due to a dispute between the city and the contractor hired to install solar panels atop the Hillcrest Center. The money is meant to help offset the cost of the project.

In February 2011, the council awarded a $2.3-million contract to SHE Engineering and Construction to install more than 600 solar panels and renovate the deck roof of 401 and 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, home to the National Park Service, the Conejo Recreation and Park District and the Hillcrest Center for the Arts.

The Reseda-based construction company began work in June, but problems soon arose. In August, a city-hired engineer said the contractor’s work failed to conform to what was specified in the contract, according to a city staff report released this month.

The staff report said the company failed to correct problems with its work and stick to the agreed-upon schedule, which would have had the project completed in November.

“The city (is) objecting to the quality of work being performed,” Assistant City Attorney Patrick Hehir said. “SHE has not been building according to the contract documents.”

Hehir declined to elaborate on issues the city has with the quality of the contractor’s work, citing the possibility of legal action. But he blamed SHE Engineering for the delays.

“It’s our position that (they’ve) been struggling with getting enough people on the job and getting the job done,” Hehir said.

In an effort to get the project back on track, the City Council agreed on Feb. 7 to alter the contract with SHE—reducing the scope of work and the amount it will be paid—and awarded a contract to Smith Electric Service of Santa Maria to help finish the job.

Under the new arrangement, both SHE and Smith Electric will likely renovate the roof on 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, with Smith finishing up roof work on 401 W. Hillcrest Drive and installing solar panels on both buildings.

In order to qualify for about $446,000 in grants from the California Solar Initiative—a rebate program sponsored by the Public Utilities Commission and managed through Southern California Edison—the solar panels at 401 W. Hillcrest Drive must be installed and certified as operational by April 15 and the panels at 403 W. Hillcrest Drive by July 20.

SHE has only completed about 35 percent of the job, Hehir said.

“It’s disappointing in the sense that we’re already two months past our deadline of a work project that shouldn’t have taken that long, and we’re concerned about that,” the assistant city attorney said. “Our first objective is to meet those deadlines. Obviously we were concerned (whether) we were going to meet those deadlines . . . the way it was going.”

Contractor disagrees

At the Feb. 7 council meeting, attorney Jonathan Dekel, representing SHE, said work delays were the fault of the city, not the contractor.

“(In November), SHE repeatedly provided the city with explanations and supporting documentation showing that the delays on this project weren’t attributable to SHE. No meaningful response was provided. Since that time, SHE was completely cut out of the project,” Dekel said.

He called the city’s decision to hire a new contractor to help SHE finish the job hasty, unjustified and a violation of the construction company’s contractual rights.

“I’m afraid that if the requested action is taken, it’s going to expose the city to substantial liability,” Dekel told the council, noting that his client wasn’t notified that a change in its contract with Thousand Oaks was on the council’s agenda.

“We also disagree in the strongest terms that SHE’s work was nonconforming or somehow defective,” he said.

Dekel did not return calls seeking further comment.

The deck-roof renovation was to have been completed in mid- August, but by late September SHE had begun roof work on just one of the buildings, according to the staff report. Water from an October storm damaged both buildings, the report said, and SHE paid for some but not all of the cleanup costs.

By the time the council agreed to bring in Smith Electric, SHE had renovated most of the roof of the 401 building, none of the roof of 403 and hadn’t started solar panel installation on either building, Hehir said.

Legal battle ahead?

Hehir told the Acorn there is a possibility that the city, SHE and a surety bond company that insures completion of the project could be involved in a lawsuit.

“It depends on who’s going to go after whom. Obviously you want to be made whole. . . . It just depends on if everybody can have a meeting of the minds or not,” he said.

If the solar panel-roof project stays within its original $2.3-million budget, the potential for litigation among the three parties may be reduced, Hehir said.

“Our hope is that . . . at the end of the day we’re going to be even in what we would have paid out with SHE doing the whole job,” he said.

Facilities manager Liz Perez said the city has paid the company $550,000 for work done through mid-December. It could still owe more.

“They’re not off the job . . . as of today,” she said last week, adding that the company’s last day is under discussion.

The contract with Smith Electric is $1.6 million for installation of the solar panels and some roof repair. But Perez said the city won’t know exact construction costs until the project is completed because it’s possible some of SHE’s work may have to be redone.

The City of Thousand Oaks expects to save $60,000 a year with solar panels on the Hillcrest Center and supply the center with renewable energy for up to 30 years, the general lifespan of the panels.

Using that figure, the panels should pay for themselves within 12 years, Perez said.

If the city fails to get the rebates, the payback period would increase by two years, to 14.

But Perez is optimistic that won’t happen. If necessary, the city will apply for and likely be granted an extension for the rebate because the work is so far along, she said.