The Brookhaven City Council, at its March 10 meeting, approved a $375,000 settlement agreement with four companies regarding a collapsed pavilion at a city park.
The settlement was reached with Tri Scapes, LLC, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Lose & Associates, Inc., Matrix Engineering Group, Inc, and Crown Service Contractors after “extensive negotiations,” said Brookhaven City Attorney Jeremy Berry.
According to the agreement, the incident occurred when the soil under the completed structure’s column failed, “likely due to a collapsed subsurface storm pipe.”
The pavilion was then taken down, and the storm pipe was repaired. However, the parties involved denied liability, prompting a lawsuit filed by the city last December against the five companies involved in its design and construction.
The settlement agreement said Tri Scapes will pay $115,000; Matrix, $15,000; Crown, $50,000; Lose, $120,000, and Jacobs, $75,000.
However, the agreement said other disputes with two of the contractors have not been settled.
“Tri Scapes does not release its claim against the City for retainage or costs of demolition and repair of the storm water pipe in the amount of $168,273,” the settlement said. “Lose does not release its claim against the City for invoices unrelated to the Pavilion in the amount of $12,209.”
The city “reserves all defenses and positions” regarding the two claims, the document said.
Council members congratulated Berry and his team for the settlement.
“When the pavilion was built on top of a pipe, and it was not going to be as stable as it needed to be, that was a disappointment,” said Council Member Madeline Simmons. “I’m thankful that our city attorney and outside counsel swiftly brought a lawsuit to get a fair settlement to rebuild the pavilion.”
The item passed unanimously. Brookhaven’s Director of Communications Burke Brennen said the city is determining a suitable location in the park for a replacement pavilion and will solicit bids after that is accomplished.
Nancy Creek stream repairs
In other action, the council authorized $150,000 to remove two log sill structures that failed during a stream restoration project on the upper reach of North Fork Nancy Creek. The failures were found during a routine site inspection last July, according to a staff memo about the project.
“The approved corrective action consists of removing the two failed log sill structures and replacing them with angled rock sills,” the memo said. “While this modification maintains the original function design intent of the permitted project, the change in materials represents adaptive management to enhance long-term structural stability and performance.”
Shamrock Construction and Remediation, the original contractor for the stream restoration project, would have been the preferred vendor for this repair work, the memo said, but continued that “the firm has been deemed non-responsive.”
The work has been estimated to cost about $126,000, with a contingency of $24,000.
Other action from the meeting
Police Chief Brandon Gurley said during department reports that his force is aware of the spate of teen takeovers in the Metro area over the past few months, and that his department is taking “a zero-tolerance stance” if and when a teen takeover is organized within the city limits.
“The problem is that these organized takeovers have violent and disruptive intentions,” as indicated in social media posts, Gurley said, pledging to hold both teens and parents accountable for any illegal actions that take place during the gatherings.
He also warned the council and attendees to remain vigilant, with many Metro-area schools on spring break the week of April 6-10.
The council also heard from several people during public comment, including from Jacob Travers from the Atlanta Dodgeball Club , who asked the city to reconsider banning the group from using the Brookhaven Recreation Center on a weekly basis.
“Last year we were told that we would no longer be allowed to use the space” because of the need to offer the gym to city residents, Travers said. “We never encountered anyone wanting to use the gym while we were there.”
The council also spotlighted this month’s adoptable pet, Sam, a 48-pound dog available through DeKalb Lifeline Animal Project. Through an agreement between Lifeline and the city, residents can adopt dogs free of charge.
