Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 8-23-16 Online Edition

Features
Former Coach
Tempo Completion Will Be Delayed Because Of Contractor’s Firing
Becomes Permanent
Street Car Driver
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
For nearly 30 years, Ms. Cheramye White served as an educator at Lincoln High School, in Leon County. The last 17 of those years was spent as the Head Girls Basketball Coach at the school as well.
After retiring, Ms. White accepted the invitation of a childhood friend to visit Tampa. She not only enjoyed the visit, but relocated and ob- tained employment with HART as a Para Transit van driver.
She went on to become the first Black woman Road Su- pervisor and recently, Ms. White accomplished another “first” when she was hired per- manently as a Streetcar driver.
“I’m enjoying it, it is really nice. It’s like being a tour guide so you must have some knowl- edge of the area,” Ms. White said.
A native of Jacksonville, Ms. White graduated from Florida A & M University as an Education major, and earned a Commission to serve in the U.
MS. CHERAMYE R. WHITE ... First Black female perma- nently assigned as Street Car Driver
S. Navy. Following a 12-year stint, she returned home and launched her career as an edu- cator.
A member of New Mount Zion M. B. Church, she enjoys basketball and spending time with family and friends.
Ms. White said her secret to success is to “come to work, do a good job and you will get rewarded.”
As part of the ongoing En- core project by the Tampa Housing Authority (THA), construction was underway on the latest addition, a building called Tempo, a seven-story, 203-unit building. More than 9,000 families were on a wait- ing list for the Tempo.
Construction and occupancy was halted on the project when THA announced they were firing the general con- tractor on the $25.6 million project, the Siltek Group. The building was 75% complete when the company was fired.
It's completion will now be pushed back to at least early 2017. Roughly 122 units were earmarked as urgently needed housing for low-income resi- dents with the other 81 to be rented at the market rate.
In a letter to Siltek sent June 8, the Housing Authority said the firm failed to use enough construction workers and comply with inspectors, among other issues. The proj- ect was also behind schedule and Siltek created an adver- sarial relationship with its subcontractors, said Tampa Housing Authority Chief Op- erating Officer, Leroy Moore.
"We're getting more and more subcontractors claiming they're not getting paid," Moore said.
“We didn’t get a firm com- pletion date from them and the decision to terminate the contract was made after the third default notice. We lost faith in them meeting their deadline, and that set us back on our projected completion date.”
Siltek also submitted what Moore described as "ridicu- lous" change orders, including one for $300,000 to cover the cost of solar panels that were part of the contract Siltek signed.
THE TEMPO
Rene Sierra, a former vice president of Siltek, was still working on the project. Ac- cording to a plea agreement filed in federal court in Miami last August, Sierra pleaded guilty to defrauding the U.S. government. The case involves several developers who were indicted for submitting in- flated construction contracts for low-income housing proj- ects in southeast Florida to obtain additional tax credits and grants.
Siltek told the Tampa Hous- ing Authority that Sierra would not be involved in the Tempo project, Moore said.
“But the COO said Sierra was seen three times on the Tempo site.”
The Housing Authority is also planning legal action against the firm.
Siltek specializes in low- and mid-rise residential proj- ects.
It also built the Reed, a seven-story senior living cen- ter that is part of the Encore district — a $450 million urban renewal project that is replacing Central Park Village.
The Housing Authority has asked DPR Construction, a general contractor that has worked on the Encore project, to conduct an on-site assess-
LEROY MOORE C.O.O.
Tampa Housing Authority
ment of the project.
If the Housing Authority is
satisfied with the report, DPR is likely to win the contract to complete the building.
Moore said of the $25.6 million awarded in the con- tract to Siltek, $8 million is still in the contract budget.
“The bonding company has to bring the project to comple- tion now, and any extra costs will be paid through a claim against the bond. Siltek was paid based only on the work they completed.
There was also concern that
PAGE 2 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016