WALDORF — The contractor renovating Westlake Volunteer Fire Department’s Station 12 has walked away from the job before finishing it, and the department has hired a lawyer to sort out what was paid for, what was built and how the rest gets done.
In a letter of information read into the record at the October meeting of the Charles County Board of Fire and Rescue Commissioners, Westlake President William Farnham said JAG Construction had advised the department it “will not be completing the remaining renovation work at station 12.” Substantial portions of the project are done, the letter said, but the work has suffered significant schedule and performance problems and parts of the contract remain unfinished.
The money involved is public. Board Chairman Len Gilroy told members that fire tax funds were used on the project and said there is a possibility of further legal action “at a higher level” to address the problem. Charles County’s volunteer fire and EMS companies run largely on fire and rescue tax revenue the board distributes each year; at the same meeting, the board gave final approval to its 2027 fire and EMS distribution budgets, which were drawn from an $18.4 million fire and EMS budget.
Neither the letter nor the board discussion said how much the renovation was to cost, how much has been paid to JAG Construction, or what work remains.
Lawyer brought in
Westlake has engaged attorney Rudolph Carrico to protect the department’s interests, according to the letter. With counsel, the department said it is documenting the condition and status of the work, reconciling payments against the work actually performed and the remaining contract obligations, preserving project and financial records, and deciding how to finish the job.
The department asked the board and its executive committees for no action. Farnham wrote that the letter was meant to make sure both bodies know about the situation and that Westlake has taken steps to address it, and that the department will return if circumstances require a decision from the board.
Gilroy said Westlake caught the problem, referred it to counsel and is handling it the right way. “Leave it to the legal people to work it out,” he said, adding that the board stands ready to help. A Westlake representative attending online said he had nothing to add at this time.
A warning for other stations
The Westlake situation shaped the board’s questions to other departments the same night. Before acting on capital requests from the Newburg Rescue Squad and Fire Department, Gilroy noted that one station had a contractor fail to complete its job and asked what protection Newburg had beyond a lawsuit. Newburg leaders said their contractor for a proposed HVAC replacement would be paid in phases, with the final payment held until the project is finished.
“We’re a business,” Gilroy said, urging departments to handle construction deals in a businesslike way and to walk away from contractors who won’t accept those terms.
Westlake’s other recent projects came in on budget. At the same meeting, the department filed close-out reports on two replacement utility vehicles: EMS Utility 12 cost $81,131.49, about $34 under its approved amount, and Fire Utility 12 cost $87,231.49, about $1,144 under. The county’s volunteer fire association also took over a former Westlake vehicle for use by its safety officer.
The board heard other progress reports and setbacks from county fire departments in September.
