Kellogg Flood-Control Project Nears Completion But Milo Creek Contractor’S Lawsuit Still Unresolved, Set For Trial In March

Work on a massive flood-control project in the Silver Valley is being finished this week, but a lawsuit against project managers remains unresolved.

K-C Construction Inc. says a group of agencies involved with the Milo Creek flood-control project owes the Hayden Lake company more than $1 million.

The company built the first phase of the project in 1998.

The company’s lawsuit, filed last year alleging breach of contract, is scheduled for a jury trial next March.

The Milo Creek project was a joint venture of the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services, Shoshone County and the cities of Kellogg and Wardner. The suit also names Moscow-based environmental engineering firm Terra Graphics Inc. and Thomas Bourque, a Terra Graphics employee who acted as an arbitrator during work disputes.

The lawsuit, filed in 1st District Court in Shoshone County, is convoluted.

“There are a lot of parties involved, a lot of issues,” said John Guin, attorney for K-C Construction.

In court documents, K-C Construction alleges that workers encountered problems with easements, dangerous conditions due to underground mining structures and other disruptions.

Bourque was told of the problems but refused a request for additional time and compensation, K-C Construction alleges.

When the suit was filed last year, the company was seeking roughly $1.7 million. Guin said this week the amount may be less now due to additional payments the company has received.

A state representative confirmed that payments have been made but would not give a specific figure.

“K-C Construction has been paid in full for all the work it did and is entitled to no further payment from the state,” said Matt McKeown, a deputy attorney general.

K-C Construction was the low bidder on the first phase of the flood-control project. The company’s bid was roughly $1 million below the state’s estimate of $4.5 million.

The case also includes a lawsuit filed in July 1999 by subcontractor Contractors Northwest Inc. against K-C Construction. The two lawsuits later were consolidated.

The flood-control project was split into three phases. K-C Construction worked on the first phase, which involved construction in Wardner.

The entire project, which runs through Kellogg to the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and cost nearly $15.7 million, is expected to be finished this week.

In 1997, high spring runoff blew out the network of pipes that had carried Milo Creek underground for decades. The resulting floods contaminated yards along the creek with mining waste.

A private landowner in Wardner also filed a third-party claim against K-C Construction in the last month.

Wes Aamodt had been sued by Shoshone County to get an easement to bury a pipe as part of the project, according to Justin Julian, the county’s attorney on the case.

Aamodt alleges K-C Construction breached a separate arrangement with him for use of his property to pile sand and store equipment, Julian said.