Monticello Live

Mr. Cliff Gibson, a local attorney hired by the City of Monticello to assist them in resolving problems with Siemens Industries Corporation, addressed the City Council at their meeting Thursday evening.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gibson had submitted a 13 page report on his findings thus far in his investigation of Siemens and its arrangement with the City of Monticello to refurbish the City’s antiquated water system.

When asked by a council member to summarize his findings and recommendations, Mr. Gibson stated that there is too much information to summarize, and that he strongly recommended the Council read the report in detail, as well as previous correspondence between the City and Siemens.

Attorney Gibson then informed the Council that his report reveals serious, troubling problems with Siemens.

His recommendation is that the Arkansas State Police be contacted and asked to investigate. He also told the Council that Siemens has alluded in correspondence they wish to enter mediation with the City, and he recommends that the City at least attempt to engage in that, in an effort to recover some of the $7 million the City has already paid Siemens, the $136,000 in defects and installation problems, and damages.

He listed just a few of the problems the City has experienced, from water meter leaks, to improper connections, to tops missing off of meters. Mr. Gibson stated that three different tests had been conducted, and that the new water meters that Siemens installed are working at about 95% accuracy. This is significantly less than the 98% accuracy that Siemens had guaranteed.

When Mr. Gibson contacted the laboratory that conducted the testing to request copies of the test results, he was told they would have to check with Siemens before releasing the results.

When he checked back with them to obtain copies of the test results, he was told that the lab no longer has those results.

Mr. Gibson was also troubled by the fact that on November 13, Siemens assured him that they would provide the Letter of Credit required by Arkansas law to secure the performance guarantee, without delay. It has now been more than a month, and Mr. Gibson has not received that letter, nor has he has any further contact with Siemens.

Even more troubling is the fact that Siemens has vacated Monticello. Their personnel and equipment are gone. They have no one here to fix the more than $136,000 in damages to their defective water meters, faulty connections, etc.

Further troubling was the fact that before abandoning Monticello, Siemens tried to get the City Clerk, instead of the Mayor, to sign off on accepting the meters and their work done thus far.

Mr. Gibson asked the Council for authority to enter into mediation with Siemens, and permission to contact Siemens legal department in Chicago to set up dates and arrangements for mediation. He explained that he would not have any authority to make any decisions involving the resolution of problems, and that any offers of resolution from Siemens would have to be approved by the Council. Mr. Gibson is only requesting permission to initiate mediation proceedings with Siemens.

Mr. Gibson stated that if mediation fails to produce a resolution that is acceptable to the City of Monticello, that a lawsuit would be instituted to cancel the contract and seek to recover the City’s money and damages.

After considerable discussion, the Council decided they want to have more time to read and reflect on Mr. Gibson’s report before they give him permission to set up a mediation meeting with Siemens.

The decision was made to meet on January 7 at 6:30 p.m. to vote on his request.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2014 at 6:41 am and is filed under City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.