Oskaloosa City Council Votes To Fire Contractor
A view of the natatorium at the new Oskaloosa YMCA facility in December 2021.
January 27th, 2023
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa City Council met in a special session at 5 pm on January 25th to discuss their ongoing relationship with their general contractor for the new early childhood and recreation center.
The vision and plan for the new complex were put forward in 2016 when a market analysis was conducted to see if there would be enough financial support to make the new facility feasible and able to sustain itself into the future.
The initial date for completion was set for 2021, but by the fall of 2021, word of issues with the new pools was leaking from those who had toured the new facility. In an interview with Oskaloosa News at the time, then-Mahaska County YMCA CEO Matt Larson said there had been a “snag.” “We’re working through the quality of the pool and how we want it to be constructed, specifically the lap pool.”
During that December 2021 interview, Larson couldn’t give an opening date for the new facility. “It goes back to that pool.”
“So if it’s one month or four months,” added Larson. “I can definitely tell you that there’s work through the whole building that would need to be accomplished.”
Moving forward to January 2023, the Oskaloosa City Council voted on a resolution holding it’s general contractor in default after holding a closed session.
The city claims that Graphite Construction is in default because it failed to fulfill its contractual obligations, citing failure to perform work in accordance with the contract documents and failure to provide adequate, properly skilled workers.
The resolution also states that the legal council is authorized and directed to pursue all available remedies to enforce the city’s rights under the contract and bond.
Upon discussion, council members stated, “it’s time,” and the roll call vote was then taken and passed unanimously by the council.
The bonding company will be contacted, and the process of finishing the project will move forward once again after an approximate year of delays.
We have provided a list of some of the articles and information we collected during the project.
2017 – Early Childhood and Recreation Center On Track Again – http://oskynews.org/early-childhood-recreation-center-moving-forward/
2019 – Council Approves Site Plan For Education And Recreation Center – http://oskynews.org/council-approves-site-plan-for-education-and-recreation-center/
2020 – Early Childhood And Recreation Center Looking For 2020 Ground Breaking – http://oskynews.org/early-childhood-and-recreation-center-looking-for-2020-ground-breaking/
2020 – Unique YMCA Groundbreaking – http://oskynews.org/unique-ymca-groundbreaking/
2020 – Young Y Member Digs Deep to Support the new Y – http://oskynews.org/young-y-member-digs-deep-to-support-the-new-y/
2020 – YMCA Project Still Looking For Community Contributions – http://oskynews.org/ymca-project-still-looking-for-community-contributions/
2020 – Oskaloosa Early Childhood Education Center – Vision Becoming Reality – http://oskynews.org/oskaloosa-early-childhood-education-center-vision-becoming-reality/
2021 – Early Childhood Development Center On Track To Open For Next School Year – http://oskynews.org/early-childhood-development-center-on-track-to-open-for-next-school-year/
2021 – Finish Line In Sight For New YMCA Project – http://oskynews.org/finish-line-in-sight-for-new-ymca-project/
2021 – New YMCA Project Slowed By Pandemic And Other Issues – http://oskynews.org/new-ymca-project-slowed-by-pandemic-and-other-issues/
2022 – City Council Moves Forward With Legal Action Over New YMCA Facility – http://oskynews.org/city-council-moves-forward-with-legal-action-over-new-ymca-facility/
2022 – Council Approves Nearly $500k In Payments For Recreation Center – http://oskynews.org/council-approves-nearly-500k-in-payments-for-recreation-center/
