Saratoga fire station on hold

Bond co. troubles chase contractor

“Nobody has been working on the new Saratoga fire station for several weeks, and it is uncertain when work will begin again.The contractor, Glory Developers, Inc., pulled out in early August and their bonding company asked that Fire District 3 pay no more money to the contractor until further notice.Glory Developers is based in Federal Way, and the principal owner is listed in Department of Labor and Industries records as Hun Young Park. But nobody has been answering their telephone in recent days.Fire District 3 Chief Don Smith first apprised the Board of Commissioners of the situation at a meeting on Aug. 26, but at the time he didn’t think the delay would be long. As of this week, he’s not so sure.As Smith understands the situation, the bonding company’s message to the fire district is, We’re taking over Glory — don’t worry. Exactly why that is occurring isn’t something the bonding company will discuss.R. Scott Cochrane is manager of the Seattle office of Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Company. On Wednesday, he would only confirm that his company had bonded the Saratoga fire station project, and said, We’re dealing with it to fulfill our obligation under the bond.Cochrane declined to describe the problem with Glory Developers. We’re currently in resolution, he said.However, Cochrane said his company is dealing with the fire district to complete the project — I can’t say what Glory is doing. Asked if that means bringing in a new contractor, Cochrane replied, It may. He declined to estimate when work could resume.In an Aug. 11 letter to the fire district, the bonding company stated, We are currently investigating a situation regarding this company (Glory) and would request that no funds currently due or to become due be released to Glory Developers, Inc., or any other party without the express written consent of Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Company.Chief Smith said the district heeded the request. We’re holding $37,000 for work already done, he said. It’s not something they want to do, however. Smith said subcontractors were hired by Glory, and he would like them to receive payment as soon as possible.Glory Developers began work on the new station in June and had poured the floor and built some of the cement walls. But before they stopped work, they were waiting for the arrival of metal siding and roofing material.Smith said the Saratoga community was consulted about the station colors, and had selected Tahitian bronze for the siding and red brick for the roof. He expected in mid-August that the wait for those specific colors would be several weeks, and perhaps the contractor problems would be over by then. But as of this week, it hadn’t happened.The Saratoga station was well behind schedule without this latest delay. The first bids were sought nearly a year ago, but design changes prompted by public input resulted in a second call for bids. Finally, last April, the bid was awarded to Glory Developers for the price of $369,000. The two-story station will have three vehicle bays and more than 1,000 square feet of crew, training and storage space.Glory Developers has a good record with the state Department of Labor and Industries, which licenses contractors. No summons or complaints are on file. A public records request showed the company was cited for several very minor violations last year on a project at Edmonds Community College. “