Mediation of XNA runway lawsuit to begin

HIGHFILL -- Mediation will begin today to try to settle a lawsuit over problems with the main runway renovation at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

There will be other approvals to secure even if the sides agree to a settlement during the three-day mediation process.

Mediation

A non-adversarial method of alternative dispute resolution in which a neutral third party helps resolve a dispute. The mediator does not have the power to render a decision on the matter or order an outcome. If a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, the parties can pursue a lawsuit.

Source: uslegal.com

"If we are able to reach a settlement, the terms of that settlement will have to come back to this board for approval even before it goes to the FAA," Scott Van Laningham explained to board members Wednesday.

To speed the process, Van Laningham suggested board members be available for a special meeting to approve any proposed settlement. Mike Moss, chairman of the airport board, will sit in during the mediation. John Elrod is the attorney for the airport.

Van Laningham and Kelly Johnson, airport director, said further independent testing of samples from the runway continue to show the runway is strong enough and thick enough but there will be ongoing maintenance problems related to concrete panels not being level.

The W.L. Harper Company, general contractors on the project, sued the airport authority and the engineers overseeing the project just before Christmas for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, claiming it hasn't been paid for work done or material and can't pay subcontractors for their work.

Harper claims it substantially finished the project in early June, the work is within contract specifications and only minor items remain to be completed. They contend airport officials and engineers have prevented them from replacing about 10 slightly nonconforming concrete panels in the 8,800-foot main runway.

Airport officials filed an answer denying any wrongdoing and a counterclaim seeking damages for breach of contract and breach of implied warranty. They claim there are closer to 40 panels with cracks, 100 had to be patched and many aren't level. The airport wants an extended warranty on any repair. There are about 4,000 panels in the runway.

Airport officials want a plan the sides can take to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is paying for 90 percent of the project. The FAA has refused to process some $3 million in payments because the dispute hasn't been resolved.

The $26.1 million project should have been done by the end of 2013. The contract was let in June 2012.

The entire main runway and base, as well as drainage and electrical, had to be replaced because an alkaline reaction between aggregate and sand in the concrete mix caused cracks that became noticeable about four years after the airport opened. Moisture and deicing solution exacerbated the problem.

Engineers have estimated it will take another $1 million to finish the project correctly and get planes landing on the main runway again. A taxiway was converted to serve as the primary runway during the project and is still being used.

NW News on 04/02/2015

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