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County seeks to fire road-widening contractor

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: October 24, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County officials are seeking to fire Kearney Construction Inc. LLC as contractor on the stalled widening of DeCubellis Road.
County attorneys asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Thursday for permission to cancel the county's DeCubellis Road contract with Kearney.

Kearney filed for bankruptcy protection in August.

If granted, the request will be the second time since the summer that the county has fired Kearney from an infrastructure project.

In July, the county's utilities department canceled its $5 million contract with Kearney after workers had repeated problems laying a 30-inch water line along U.S. 41. That cancellation came about two weeks before Kearney filed bankruptcy.

The delays on U.S. 41 put at risk the Department of Transportation's plans to widen the highway between Tower Road and Connerton Boulevard using federal economic stimulus dollars.

Kearney has sued the county for breach of contract in the U.S. 41 firing. Company officials said problems with that project were not their fault.

Kearney's deadline for widening DeCubellis between Town Center and Ridge roads is Wednesday. County officials doubt the company will make it.

Work on the project appears to have stopped, leaving the intersection with Ridge Road a jumble of disjointed pavement and orange barrels.

Firing Kearney from the DeCubellis project would let the project's insurer hire another company to finish the work.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 731-8168.

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