The council is locked in a fresh dispute with Dunedin businessman Russell Lund, of Lund South, over disagreements relating to the $4.3million pool project, the Otago Daily Times has confirmed.
The disagreements were understood to relate to a long list of defects left behind after the pool finally reopened in September 2012 — more than eight months late and $3.3million over its original $1million budget.
But they also related to disparaging comments made by council representatives about the efforts of contractors at the time the project struck trouble, Mr Lund confirmed when contacted.
He would not discuss details, but confirmed the dispute involved a potentially "significant" financial claim which could end up in court.
The council was suggesting mediation, "but that’s not their decision", he said.
The parties were still talking and no statement of claim had yet been filed, but "let’s just say there’s something there", Mr Lund said.
Asked if other parties were also involved, Mr Lund said the role of other contractors was "certainly one of the issues".
"In any construction process, problems occur when there’s deficiencies in the design and the documentation."
Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan, who was among those to criticise contractors’ earlier efforts on the project, said when contacted he was "certainly aware of" Mr Lund’s claim.
However, legal advice prevented him from commenting while the matter was at a sensitive stage, Mr Cadogan said.
"I’m shackled by the legal advice we have ... All I can say is I want to see this matter progressed."
Council corporate services group manager Alan Dickson confirmed the council was in an "ongoing dispute" with Mr Lund over unresolved maintenance issues dating back to 2012.
He would not say what sort of sums were being discussed, but there were "a whole myriad of issues".
"He [Mr Lund] is wanting to resolve issues around where he believes we would owe him money.
"It’s just something we’re going to have to work through."
It was the latest twist for a project that struck trouble when the budget began escalating, from $1million in 2009 to $4.3million by the time the doors to the facility reopened two years later.
By then, the council had identified more than 60 defects and had asked the contractor to fix them before the pool could be reopened, the ODT reported at the time.
That included a leaking roof and a malfunctioning water heating system, which led to a series of complaints from swimmers, and closures as fixes were attempted following opening day.
Some faults, including the heating, had since been rectified, but others had not and the council had been forced to assume some of the costs, Mr Dickson said.
"We’ve had to fix a lot of things that we believe weren’t done correctly at the time."
The council had tried to contact Mr Lund to resolve those issues, but "he sort of went missing in action for a while", only to contact the council again in July this year to pursue his claim, Mr Dickson said.
"There’s still a whole lot of issues that haven’t been fixed during the maintenance period, but they were never resolved by him [Mr Lund] in terms of fulfilling the maintenance requirements post opening of the pool."
Asked if the council had tried hard enough to contact Mr Lund, Mr Dickson said "in hindsight it would have been better probably two years ago to try and sort it out".
"But it’s difficult when one party sort of just stops talking to you."
Mr Lund would not respond to that claim in detail either, but told the ODT he would "have something to say about that, most definitely" when the time came.
Council chief executive Steve Hill declined a request for further comment while the matter remained at a sensitive and confidential stage.
"I trust you will understand that we will make public information at an appropriate time and not when we are engaged in without prejudice confidential discussions."
● Clutha District Council corporate services group manager Alan Dickson’s resignation was confirmed yesterday.
Mr Dickson, who has worked for the council for 16 years, said it was "time to refresh and look for a new challenge".
He will leave on October 31.
