Leland seeks new town hall contractor, receives $457K bid

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — A multi-million-dollar building still sits vacant after what Leland town officials say are unacceptable issues with the construction of the building.

The move-in date was back in 2013. Now that it is more than a year later, many Leland residents are asking why is it taking so long?

From the outside, Leland’s new town hall looks great, but the inside, looks otherwise.

“Pretty much everybody I’ve taken in and I’ve showed them the issues realized why we we were having to wait,” Leland Town Manager David Hollis said.

They’ve been waiting since 2012, when ground was broken.

“They are safety issues,” Leland Town Councilwoman Pat Batleman said.

Issues that the original construction company left behind after being recently terminated.

“When you have a flooring, for instance, where you can actually see where the different levels of some of the tiles,” Batleman said. “I mean that’s just shoddy workmanship, and someone wearing heels could trip.”

The $200,000 remaining from the original budget will go toward fixing that along with many other problems.

In the search for a new contracting company, the town asked for bids for the repairs, but only one bid was submitted, and the number wasn’t what they were hoping. The price tag is a little more than $457,000, which is more than double what they have currently budgeted

“We asked the contractor how long he thought it would be and he said 150 days,” Hollis said.

That’s at least five more months and possibly a lot more of tax payer money

But Batleman says she looks forward to finally getting into the new building next year and says it’s going to be worth the wait.

“2015 is going to be Leland’s year,” she said. “Absolutely!”

Council members are expected to make a decision on whether to go with that submission or reevaluate on Thursday at their regular council meeting.

When reached for comment on a previous story, the original contractor told WWAY the issues with the building were due to poor management, not defects. The builder said he was working to complete the projects requested, even though some were more cosmetic in nature.