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As uncertainty lingers over when the new Hidalgo County courthouse will open, the county is remaining largely mum over the specific details of what plagues its construction, which is more than two years behind schedule.
Nonetheless, county officials continue to move forward taking care of other matters related to the project, as illustrated during a Hidalgo County Commissioners’ Court meeting this week.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners approved more than $1.2 million in payments to the contractors involved in the new courthouse’s construction.
The commissioners’ court also unanimously approved a resolution to issue some $44.3 million in debt via certificates of obligation later this fall.
Part of that money will be used to pay for the demolition of the current county courthouse, which remains in use.
INSPECTION FINDINGS
According to documents provided to the county by Morganti Inc. — the Houston-based firm serving as construction manager on the build — the company initially projected the courthouse would reach the “date of substantial completion” by Feb. 28, 2021.
But that date has been repeatedly pushed back due to myriad issues, including COVID-19.
Eventually, however, county officials discovered issues with the building and with the construction itself.
In early April, county leaders tasked another Houston-based firm, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., or WJE, to conduct a thorough inspection of the new courthouse to determine just how far the problems go.
WJE inspected the facility over the course of two days from April 12-13, just one week after The Monitor reported on what WJE had referred to as “construction defects” in its correspondence with the county.
The Monitor filed a public information request on July 7 seeking the details of WJE’s inspection findings.
On July 21, the county notified the newspaper that it was seeking an opinion from state officials over whether it can withhold the records.
“Please allow this correspondence to serve as formal notice that the County intends to seek a decision from the Texas Attorney General on the basis that the request seeks information that may be withheld from disclosure under the (Texas Public Information) Act.”
The county cited disclosure exceptions listed under Sec. 552.101 through 552.156 of the act.
Those sections allow a governmental entity to withhold records that are confidential, are part of litigation, related to competitive bidding and a host of other reasons.
On July 19 — two days prior to the county’s correspondence, however — it released a four-page executive summary of WJE’s findings as part of a statement issued to local media.
The brief document noted that the firm had found issues with the new courthouse’s roof, including “isolated areas in poor conditions.”
WJE found that water ponded across several areas of the roof and that sedimentation was staining it.
The firm also found moisture-related issues with the building’s stucco, water intrusion in the building’s “punched windows” and other issues.
But the executive summary evoked more questions than it answered.
At several points in the summary, WJE recommends that the county not only make repairs, but also do further inspections beyond what it was able to examine over the two days its staff spent at the courthouse.
“We recommend that the assembly be further investigated to determine if moisture has the ability to enter the system, as well as to determine the general construction of the assembly and integration with adjacent cladding and windows,” WJE writes of its inspection of the building’s stucco.
Later, regarding the windows, WJE states, “(W)e recommend that further diagnostic testing be conducted of punched windows and the transitions to adjacent cladding systems to determine the source(s) of water intrusion.”
ONGOING COSTS
While county officials now have a better picture of what needs to be corrected at the new courthouse, it remains unclear when the 330,000-square-foot building will be able to open its doors.
On Tuesday, both the county judge and his colleagues on the commissioners’ court approved several substantial payments to the courthouse contractors totaling nearly $1.24 million.
The county approved a May 5 request for payment of more than $552,000 from project architect HDR Architecture Inc., meeting records show.
County leaders also approved a nearly $29,000 payment to replace thermostat sensors in the holding cells where jailed defendants will one day be held while they await their court appearances.
And the county approved two change orders Morganti initially submitted nearly a year ago, in late September 2022.
The first was a $131,601 change order for the installation of “crushed granite inside the fire loop,” according to Morganti’s Sept. 27, 2022 request.
The second involved a $552,760 change order for various purposes, including work on “great roof drainage,” installing a “shaft wall system” and other items.
According to the meeting agenda, both change orders have already been paid out.
Finally, county leaders approved a resolution that sets in motion plans to issue debt to pay for several pending projects — including some related to courthouse square.
Come September, the county will issue $44.3 million in certificates of obligation to pay for the eventual demolition of the old county courthouse, renovation or repair of existing county buildings, the construction of a new county-owned animal control center, road and drainage projects, purchasing new law enforcement vehicles and more.
“In essence, once this debt is issued, the impact on the tax rate for the I&S (interest and sinking fund) will be about a half a penny,” Noe Hinojosa Jr., founder of financial advising firm, Estrada Hinojosa, explained to the commissioners’ court on Tuesday.
Hinojosa added that he doesn’t think the debt issuance will place an additional burden on Hidalgo County taxpayers.
“We are very hopeful that, with property values growing by over 12%, that the total tax rate will still drop anyway,” he said.
