Southwestern Community College’s biggest building repairing debates rise
Basically, what happened is that in the summer of 2014 Devere drove a set of anchors into the ground to stabilize the soil as it worked on the road project, a $29.6 million endeavor to build a 0.7-mile road connecting N.C. 116 and N.C. 107 through the SCC campus. In January and February 2015, the anchors were removed, and during the process vibrations — reportedly severe enough that, on the top floor of the Balsam Center, picture frames fell off desks and shelves — ensued. When the movement stopped, cracks appeared in the building.
To county and college representatives, the logic is simple. Before the anchors were removed, there were no cracks. After the anchors came out, there were cracks.
“I don’t see the county being willing to accept that responsibility until a judge says there’s nobody at fault,” said County Manager Chuck Wooten.
That’s basically the position SCC is taking, said the school’s attorney Chad Donnahoo. The college has given Devere and the DOT a Feb. 29 deadline to deliver a plan to fix the damages.
“If we don’t get the information and things aren’t going the way that is in the best interest of the college, the board (of trustees) will have to consider whether it will want to file a lawsuit,” Donnahoo said.
Donnahoo has been in communication with Devere’s lawyer, from a firm based out of Raleigh, and says the correspondence has been “open,” and consisted of “sharing documents, sharing information.”
It’s unknown at this point how much it might cost to fix the damage, though the consensus seems to be that it shouldn’t be extremely expensive, well under a million dollars.
“Fortunately none of those damages that have occurred to this point are safety-related issues,” Wooten said. “There’s no reason why the building can’t be used, can’t be occupied.”
One concern, however, is that the damage apparent now might not be all that is to come. The cracks are believed to be the result of the building settling in the soil, so it’s possible that further settling could cause further damage.
A three-way finger-pointing contest over cracks in Southwestern Community College’s biggest building — and their relation to construction work on the R-5000 connector road project — could result in a lawsuit if the parties involved aren’t able to decide who should pay to fix it.
smokymountainnews.com
To county and college representatives, the logic is simple. Before the anchors were removed, there were no cracks. After the anchors came out, there were cracks.
“I don’t see the county being willing to accept that responsibility until a judge says there’s nobody at fault,” said County Manager Chuck Wooten.
That’s basically the position SCC is taking, said the school’s attorney Chad Donnahoo. The college has given Devere and the DOT a Feb. 29 deadline to deliver a plan to fix the damages.
“If we don’t get the information and things aren’t going the way that is in the best interest of the college, the board (of trustees) will have to consider whether it will want to file a lawsuit,” Donnahoo said.
Donnahoo has been in communication with Devere’s lawyer, from a firm based out of Raleigh, and says the correspondence has been “open,” and consisted of “sharing documents, sharing information.”
It’s unknown at this point how much it might cost to fix the damage, though the consensus seems to be that it shouldn’t be extremely expensive, well under a million dollars.
“Fortunately none of those damages that have occurred to this point are safety-related issues,” Wooten said. “There’s no reason why the building can’t be used, can’t be occupied.”
One concern, however, is that the damage apparent now might not be all that is to come. The cracks are believed to be the result of the building settling in the soil, so it’s possible that further settling could cause further damage.
A three-way finger-pointing contest over cracks in Southwestern Community College’s biggest building — and their relation to construction work on the R-5000 connector road project — could result in a lawsuit if the parties involved aren’t able to decide who should pay to fix it.
smokymountainnews.com
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