County settles courthouse contract dispute for $232,000

EVERETT — Snohomish County leaders approved a $232,000 settlement Wednesday to resolve a contract dispute with the architectural firm jettisoned from the new courthouse project.

The payment to ZGF Architects of Seattle comes on top of $400,000 in legal fees already approved for condemnation proceedings.

A half-dozen business owners need to leave property on the perimeter of a county parking lot by mid- to late November to make way for the nine-story courthouse building. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2015.

“This is a losing battle for us in terms of us being able to keep our property,” said Janean Jolly, who owns one of the condemned businesses with her husband, attorney David Jolly. “We’ve accepted that.”

The Jollys, like some of their neighbors, are now packing up to move to rented office space in Everett.

As planned, the county’s future $162 million courthouse will occupy one block of Wall Street, between Rockefeller and Oakes avenues.

The new building will replace the county’s 1967 courthouse, on the south side of Wall and a block west. Officials say the old building is plagued with safety and health problems, many of which can’t be fixed through remodeling.

Plans call for demolishing the courthouse in 2017, after the new facility is ready. The historic Mission building will remain.

The new 250,000-square-foot court building is being designed to house 20 courtrooms, plus workspace for clerks, deputy prosecutors who handle criminal cases and public defenders. There is room for either the sheriff’s office administration or the county’s civil attorneys, but not both.

The County Council in July removed ZGF as its main courthouse architect favor of Heery International, an Atlanta-based firm already consulting on the project. Concerns that the project would run over budget were a large part of what motivated the change, officials said.

The county has spent more than $2.2 million to date on the courthouse, mostly for legal costs and design work.

Wednesday’s 5-0 council vote to approve the ZGF settlement was one of several costly legal resolutions the county has absorbed of late.

On Monday, the council approved a $125,000 payment to settle a workplace-discrimination suit brought by a Medical Examiner’s Office investigator. In September, the council agreed to fork over $575,000 to resolve a public records case involving land-use decisions in the floodplain.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.