Brand new, $1.4 million salt shed sits empty for another winter. Why isn’t it being used?

There’s a big controversy in North Park right now that involves a salt shed and your money.

Winter weather is fast approaching, and there will soon be a need for good, reliable salt. 11 Investigates has learned that a brand new $1.4 million salt shed completed two years ago still isn’t being used.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle has been looking into this, discovering why it’s not in use and why the builder is suing Allegheny County.

The contractor, Graham Construction, claims the building is perfectly fine and filed a lawsuit to force the county to pay the remaining bill of more than $200,000.

Meanwhile, the county claims the roof leaks and says they won’t use it until it’s fixed.

So, the new salt shed at the Allegheny County Public Works facility in North Park sits empty. There’s no salt in this building for the second winter in a row.

Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor told Earle that the roof leaks and it’s unusable.

“It’s just frustrating that this was a building we wanted to be up and running, and when all of a sudden it’s leaking, you know that’s a problem,” O’Connor said.

Inspectors with the controller’s office got a tip that the roof was leaking.

Sources told 11 Investigates that they brought a fire truck to simulate rain and confirmed the leaks.

Because of that, the controller’s office withheld approximately $200,000 worth of payments to the contractor.

  “We have every right to question it and withhold funds until things are rectified,” said O’Connor.

That move by the controller’s office prompted Graham to file a civil lawsuit against Allegheny County.

In that lawsuit, Graham claims there’s nothing wrong with the building, and the county now owes them $250,000 for failing to pay.

“There are no defects with Graham’s work,” an attorney wrote in the lawsuit.

An attorney for Graham Construction, Richard Saxe, sent this statement to 11 Investigates.

“The situation has been very frustrating. They performed the work and the project has been fully operational for some time. The County simply didn’t pay my clients, and ignored our requests for payment for months.  We finally were left with no choice than to file a lawsuit.”

In a counterclaim filed by the county, they called the building an “unusable and defective project.” The county said Graham was told about the leaks but “failed to remediate the problems.”

The county continues using a temporary salt shed nearby until the new building is fixed.

Sources told 11 Investigates the county recently got an estimate of $20,000 from another contractor to fix the leaks.

The controller said his inspectors routinely examine county projects to make sure they’re done right.

“The oversight is critically important because this is taxpayers’ dollars that’s not being spent properly and they have to be held accountable and that’s what we’re doing right now,” O’Connor said.

Sources tell me the county is hoping to get the salt shed repaired and up and running sometime this winter.

Meanwhile, that lawsuit involving the county and the contractor is still working its way through the court system.

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