A contractor’s million-dollar lawsuit against Rowan County is expected to go the jury later today.

Testimony in the three-week civil case ended Wednesday afternoon and provided insight into how much this case already has cost the county.

An expert testified Wednesday that he has billed the county for more than $100,000 for his services related to the lawsuit.

John S. Clark Inc. of Mount Airy, the general contractor on the $12.6 million Rowan Justice Center, is seeking more than $1.3 million for its work on the project completed in 1995.

The county blames Clark for completing the project a year late, contending the firm poorly managed the project.

Clark claims the Justice Center was a project that was flawed from the start and the county didn’t take quick action to deal with a myriad of problems.

The county came close to admitting the design was flawed late Wednesday.

With the jury dismissed for the day, attorney Roman Pibl made four motions seeking a directed verdict awarding Clark no damages.

Among the four motions, Pibl argued that the county should not be held liable for mistakes and flaws in the project design by the architects, J.N. Pease Associates of Raleigh.

Pibl is assisting County Attorney John Holshouser with the county’s defense.

Witnesses for the county and the construction company testified about dozens of problems with designs, requiring continuous changes, from pouring the foundations to fitting the steel detention fixtures into the jail area.

Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm Jr. asked Pibl if he was trying to say the county has the right to refuse to grant extra time and pay and not be liable for anything.

Lamm then denied the motion.

He also denied Pibl’s motions that the county could not be liable for the contractors; that the request for more time and compensation were not made promptly; and that the company’s home office was not entitled to overhead and profit under the terms of the contract.

Clark attorney David Smith of Winston-Salem launched a relentless attack on the county’s final witness, an expert in construction.

Steve Peklenk of Corporate Construction Services testified that the delays were the fault of poor management and lack of scheduling by Clark.

Smith probed Peklenk’s credentials in construction. Peklenk admitted that his primary work is in litigation and disputes.

Under cross examination, Smith repeatedly used Peklenk’s earlier testimony given in depositions to show changes in answers.

Smith hit again and again at changes in design by Pease, asking Peklenk about 84 new drawings that Pease supplied to deal with problems or changes in the project. Smith said 19 were given the contractor after the project was supposed to be finished.

Peklenk said the changes were small and large.

Jurors heard again and again about problems that delayed pouring footings after the contractor discovered a storm drain, storage tank and well not marked on design drawings.

As the building progressed, hurdles became an almost daily event.

xmith took Peklenk through an in-depth look at weather conditions when Clark workers were trying to construct footings.

With Peklenk standing beside a colorized chart offered by the county, Smith matched up weather reports from the Salisbury Post and the contractor’s daily reports. The contractor and Post reports showed far more days of rain than the official weather reports for the period.

After coloring in each additional day where the Post and the contractor’s report indicated rain, Smith asked Peklenk about “serious flaws” in his weather diagram.

Peklenk replied that there are “a few inconsistencies.”

Testimony Wednesday focused on problems with elevator shafts that had to be torn out and rebuilt. Another elevator shaft was cut several inches off its intended location, and had to be redone.

A former president of Clark testified Wednesday afternoon that Pease architects came up with 14 separate drawings on redoing footings, when a 30-inch storm drain was discovered in the path of construction.

Joe Hennings, the former president of Clark, who had testified earlier, retook the stand to rebut some testimony by county witnesses.

Hennings admitted the nearly 50-foot exterior panels on the detention center are three-inches out of plumb. He also admitted that Clark workers cut a pre-cast panel to make it fit.

Throughout the two weeks of testimony, witnesses and evidence have dealt on dimensional problems — elements that didn’t fit.

Several county officials have attended the trial on a daily basis. County Commission Chairman Newton Cohen, who was on the board during the project, has listened to virtually all of the testimony. Vice Chairman Steve Blount and Commissioner Arnold Chamberlain also have attended many sessions.

The trial is being held in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the County Administrative Offices building.

Attorneys, jurors and the judge are swamped in paperwork, copies of letters and memorandum tracking the three year project.

At times witnesses have struggled to find the right document amidst the piles.

By Wednesday afternoon, Judge Lamm had similar problems.

Looking through a pile of motions and other paperwork, Lamm observed. “It’s somewhere in something.”