City to county: Bleachers must go

A lawsuit filed Thursday by the City of McCook against Red Willow County requires that the county remove the bleachers in the Kiplinger Arena on the county fairgrounds.

City Attorney Rhonda Vetrovsky filed the lawsuit in Red Willow County District Court Thursday, Dec. 30, at 3:14 p.m. The city's lawsuit alleges the bleachers do not meet building codes and may present a safety hazard to people sitting on them.

The three sections of bleachers were installed in July 2003, purchased for $15,500 from DGJD Inc., of Jefferson, Colo. DGJD's purchase price was the lowest when fair board members went shopping for bleachers for the arena.

The city's lawsuit alleges that:

* The county did not obtain a building permit for the bleachers before installing them, as required by building codes written in 1997 and 2003.

* The 22-foot bleacher unit and the 27-foot bleacher unit have "aisle access distances" of 19 and 24 feet, exceeding maximum distances outlined in 1997 and 2003 codes.

* All three bleacher units have vertical aisle widths of 33 inches, in violation of the requirement of 36 inches.

* The height of the first riser is six inches, and the height of the remaining risers is eight inches, in violation of a requirement that the maximum difference in riser height shall be 3/8 inch.

* Handrails are not provided at each vertical aisle of each of the three units.

* Contrasting marking stripes are not placed on each aisle tread.

* Certain portions of the bleachers are more than 30 inches above the floor and that perimeter guardrails on all the bleachers are 40 1/2 inches above the leading edge of the seatboards, in violation of the requirement of 42 inches in height above the leading edge of the adjacent walking surface or adjacent seatboards.

* Members of the rear and side guardrail posts do not have a structural capacity to support the loads required by both 1997 and 2o03 building codes.

* The rear seat angle columns on each unit will not support loads required by 1997 and 2003 building codes.

* The seat support angle columns of Rows 3, 5 and 7 in each unit will not support loads; and

* Seat support angle columns in Row 1 of each unit are not braced against side-sway and will not support loads.

The lawsuit asks that the county be temporarily and permanently restrained from using the bleachers and required to remove them from the arena.

City Manager John Bingham told county commissioners in July that if the bleachers were to fail due to "non-conforming issues," and that he and the city's building inspector, Doyle Wineland, were aware of those issues, they could face personal fines and imprisonment. The county could be sued because it owns the bleachers and the arena, and the city could be sued because the fairgrounds upon which the arena sits is within city limits and subject to building code restrictions.

The county has 30 days, from Monday, Jan. 3, to answer the city's charges.

Fair Board President Bob Haag and fair board secretary Deb Lafferty said information from the city's lawsuit would be sent immediately to Gordon Maatsch, the owner of DGJD Inc., who warranted his work to be code compliant.

County Attorney Paul Wood suggested that he, a county commissioner and a member of the fair board meet with Bingham, Wineland and Vetrovsky. The issue is not a matter for the city council to address, Wood said. "It's not a council issue," he said. "It doesn't vote a 'yea' or 'nay' on this."

Wood said he wants assurance from the city that city officials will sign off on the bleachers if Maatsch corrects deficiencies and/or the city is willing to grant variances where appropriate.

Haag said he wants Maatsch involved in the meeting. "All this should go back to Gordon (Maatsch)," Haag said. "He sold us the bleachers in good faith, and we bought the bleachers in good faith. We have a warranty."

Fair Board member Don Klein volunteered and District 3 Commissioner Leigh Hoyt was appointed to attend the meeting between Wood and Bingham.

Wood emphasized that the issue is not whether the bleachers are "safe" or not, but rather, do they meet building codes. "I'm not saying these bleachers would ever hurt anyone, but if they did ... ," he said.

Until the matter is settled, the bleachers will be roped off and not available for use by the public.