Youngstown board OKs deal with East High contractor

YOUNGSTOWN — The cost of the new $33 million East High School, which opened in fall 2007, just went up.

The city school board has approved a settlement with Valley Electrical Consolidated Inc. of Girard, the electrical contractor, that will pay the company an additional $388,000. The original contract award was $3,029,850.

Gary Kasper, a project manager for the Ohio School Facilities Commission, said the additional cost could have been a lot more.

The company had filed a claim for $1.6 million for lost profit due to delays in the construction schedule that resulted in increased costs to the company. It argued that the delays were the fault of another contractor and beyond its control.

Kasper told the school board that the issue was about to go to court when the state decided to approach Valley Electrical once more to see if a settlement could be reached.

The end result was the company will accept a payment of $388,000, avoiding a court battle, he said.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com