THOUSAND OAKS : Builder Threatens Suit Over Payment

Thousand Oaks has agreed to pay a Los Angeles construction company $90,000 to settle a dispute over the city’s new teen and senior centers, but the firm’s president has threatened to sue for about $300,000.

Officials this week informed Chartered Construction Corp. President Lotfi Lotfallah of the city’s offer, said Community Services Manager Joe Hinsberg.

The city originally withheld the money after the Goebel Senior Adult Center and the Thousand Oaks Teen Center were finished to ensure that Chartered Construction would repair the floor and a skylight in the senior center, Hinsberg said. The city regularly withholds part of the construction contract for up to 30 days after a project is completed to make sure all work is finished, he said.

However, Lotfallah said he was not satisfied with the amount the city has offered. The dispute centers on work Chartered did after arson destroyed the building while it was under construction in March, 1989, Lotfallah said.

Although fire insurance covered most of the costs of rebuilding the center, the city did not agree to make up the balance, Lotfallah said. The new senior center opened earlier this year, but the city has since demanded additional work, he said.