A bonding company that insured the work of an apparently defunct Rolla construction firm is working to obtain a bid to finish one phase of the Texas County Justice Center.
Hogan Construction Co. of Rolla was awarded a more than $1 million bid for work on the project, but has since closed its work sites.
Texas County Presiding Commissioner Don Shelhammer said the bonding company is getting bids to complete the project. It will pick up the difference between the Hogan bid, and the price obtained from another company. Shelhammer noted that the county has several weeks on its timetable before any work stoppage would occur at the center, which is situated at Grand Avenue and Spruce Street in Houston.
Two other municipalities in the county are faced with similar situations. Hogan Construction Co. was the contractor for a sidewalk improvement project at Licking and airport improvements at Houston. Work had already begun at Licking. Subcontractors on the $200,000 Licking project halted work after saying they weren’t getting paid. Included were employees from C & H Excavating and some bricklayers.
At Licking, a company official e-mailed the city and said the firm’s owners had not been in the office for several weeks, and he could not guarantee that the personnel or equipment needed to finish the job would be available. Published reports from Rolla indicate a trail of subcontractors who say they haven’t been paid by the construction company, along with civil lawsuits filed in circuit and federal courts.