This bill directs expenditure of $73,562.70 from the general fund in payment
of a claim against the Department of Administration (DOA) by Landwehr
Construction, Inc. The claimant entered into a contract with DOA for construction
work to be performed in connection with the demolition of Ames Hall at the
University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2004. As a part of this job, the claimant was
required to remove floor tile and foundation black tar/felt that contained asbestos.
The bidding documents stated that certain asbestos removal work would be
performed by the state and other such work was the responsibility of the contractor.
The documents required the contractor to include in its bid an allowance of $60,000
for labor and materials related to recycling of concrete floor slabs. The claimant only
included an allowance of $10,000 in its bid because it understood that the remainder
would be returned to it when the relevant material was recycled. DOA contends that
the documents provided for the allowance in order to fund the unknown costs of
removing and recycling the material containing asbestos for which the contractor
was responsible, and the claimant was not entitled to the return of any money. The
claimant claimed $73,562.70 representing its costs for a subcontractor to perform
this work ($52,066.80), plus the costs of tree removal, equipment, and supervision
of the work. DOA asserts that at most the claimant would be entitled to $48,251.40,
representing the claimant's payments to its subcontractor ($44,885.00) plus a
markup of 7.5 percent. The Claims Board recommended denial of this claim on May
24, 2006 (see 2005 Senate Journal, p. 871).