Edinburg city hall delays again

 EDINBURG - City employees finally received the green light to move into their new City Hall eight months after the originally scheduled date.

Then Hurricane Dolly hit.

Edinburg City Manager J.J. Rodriguez said they were scheduled to move the week the category 2 hurricane landed in the Rio Grande Valley. The day after the hurricane - July 24 - city officials found that a water line in the roof had broken, soaking the carpet and walls in the building.

Now the city expects to move into the building just one block away from the current city hall at 210 W. McIntyre St. in the middle of September.

Rodriguez said the contractor is footing the bill for the repairs to expedite the move-in, while Enriquez Enterprises settles the claim with the insurance company.

A message left with Enriquez Enterprises was not returned.

The Edinburg city council approved the contractor's first delay in August 2007 on the roughly $7.6-million building, when the deadline was moved from December 2007 to February 2008. The council then approved an additional extension in May that pushed the move-in date to the end July.

Rodriguez said the council has not discussed whether to take any action against the company for the project delays.

"I think our interest is trying to get him to finish up as soon as possible," Rodriguez said.

Jackie Leatherman covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4424.