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The $12.5 million North County police precinct, at 11030 Dunn Road near Route 367 and Interstate 270, was supposed to open last year. But slow, faulty work by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½-based Raineri Construction has set the project back by at least nine months, according to correspondence between the county and Raineri managers.

“Very little work has taken place,� county project manager Kevin Underwood wrote in a letter from March 2023, four months after ground broke. “Per Raineri’s daily reports, work has taken place onsite on only 16 days.�

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County has been leasing space for police in North County for 25 years. The new building, approved seven years ago by voters, will be twice as big and have a new fitness center and crime scene unit — and save the county $8,300 a month in rent. But the delays from Raineri have now set back the project, worrying county officials and keeping 100 police officers from their new home.

Newly released records show county officials documenting a lack of progress and work done out-of-order.

A sewer line has yet to go in. Workers installed landscaping before curbs and pavement, and put in perimeter fencing before building an irrigation channel. Door frames were set without the proper hardware. And some work was done using outdated designs, among other problems.

Now, a project meant to be finished last November won’t be completed until late this summer at the earliest — nine months late.

The county is already talking with its attorneys on how to handle the contractor.

Tony Raineri, owner of Raineri Construction, acknowledged at a recent hearing before the County Council that work had been done out-of-order, and he said some subcontractors had done a bad job. Factors such as utility and permitting problems, which he said were not the contractor’s fault, also set work back.

Still, Raineri called the problems “small� and said he was unaware of any big issues.

He also told the council that his company and its subcontractors would shoulder the cost of redoing work.

“They’re all my issues until I turn this over to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County,â€� Raineri said.

He declined to comment beyond his statements to the council.

Raineri said his firm is accustomed to doing big, technical projects, some $40 million or more in value. It has built urgent care clinics, renovated Hotel Indigo in downtown ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and constructed a new pedestrian bridge in Brentwood’s Memorial Park, according to the company’s website.

Aside from all the delays, and the costs associated with fixing them, the police precinct project cost has increased by about $66,000, largely to cover cost adjustments and county-requested changes.

‘Obviously, I am concerned’

The new precinct’s origin dates back to 2017 when voters approved a public safety tax, partially to pay for the North County station and another near Affton. After years of design, multiple rounds of bidding and pandemic-related delays, the county hired Raineri Construction in August 2022.

Delays began immediately, said Nate Adams, who oversees minority hiring goals for the county.

Raineri had a month to confirm minority hiring, but sent its list two months late. “It shouldn’t have taken them that long,� Adams said.

The county held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project in November 2022.

But almost no work happened after that, for months.

Raineri, talking to the council, blamed early delays on snags with easements, permitting and utilities. He said the permit review process was slow. The project needed an easement from the hospital next door to run a sewer line. Getting water and gas access took time, he said.

Work didn’t really start until the following spring.

By then, public works staffers were already worried about the competency of Raineri staff. The company could have started work even while waiting for permits and utilities, according to the county correspondence.

The first letter from Underwood, the county’s project manager, came in March last year. Clearing and grading wasn’t done on time. Raineri hadn’t taken steps to control rainwater. Excavation was slow-going.

In October 2023, he sent an email about Raineri changing project managers.

“Obviously, I am concerned that we are changing the Raineri Project Manager this late in the project,� he wrote. “This is especially true given the progress to date.�

In December, Underwood sent a third letter. The sewer line hadn’t been installed. The building should have been enclosed to make it water-tight. Raineri had installed things before they were approved. For instance, workers installed a red fire hydrant that should have been yellow.

“The county is extremely concerned about the quality of the final product, and about the unknown latent defects that will be found post-completion,� Underwood wrote in the letter.

And subcontractors were not getting paid on time, said Adams, the county minority hiring manager.

Last month, the new South County precinct opened, about two months behind schedule. It cost $14.6 million.

The next week, Democratic Council Chair Shalonda Webb of unincorporated North County began voicing concerns about the delays to the North County precinct.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County’s public works director, Stephanie Leon Streeter, said the two projects are very different, and hard to compare. The South County project didn’t have the same issues with utilities. The North County building will be bigger — 17,300 square feet versus the 15,000-square-foot South County facility.

But the North County project shouldn’t be so far behind, Webb said.

“You’ve got a whole building ready to go and we don’t even have a roof,� Webb told Republican Councilman Dennis Hancock of Fenton at a council meeting late last month.

‘Fairly confident,’ Raineri said

This month, elected officials began visiting and driving by the North County site. They saw the frame of a building: beams, cinderblocks and plywood.

The driveway pavement has already been laid despite ongoing traffic from heavy machinery, which could ruin the new asphalt, Republican Councilman Mark Harder of Ballwin noticed. Webb saw “land converging downward� in the back. And County Executive Sam Page saw a retention basin of standing water that should have already drained.

“I saw that we’re behind schedule, that this contractor appears to be struggling, that we need to get back on schedule,� Page said in an interview. “I’m certainly disappointed.�

Page said his staff told him about the problems at least six months ago. He said the county will try to “find a path forward� with Raineri, despite setbacks.

But some councilmembers expressed concerns. Councilman Harder asked Raineri at the hearing if his company could meet the new completion deadline: Aug. 20.

“Are you confident we’ll hit that target?� Harder said.

“Fairly confident,� Raineri said.

Councilwoman Rita Heard Days, a Democrat from Bel-Nor, asked Leon Streeter, the public works director, about what the county should do if Raineri “continues to have issues.�

“We take guidance from our legal staff on how we can move forward, addressing accountability and addressing the project conclusion,� Leon Streeter said. “Those are conversations we’re in now.�

Page said the problem could be avoided in the future if the county had more flexibility in hiring contractors. The county is obligated to choose the lowest qualified bid, he said, but pending legislation would allow it to choose the best, lowest bid.

Webb said she wants more detail on before advancing it at the council.

Meanwhile, the county continues to lease. They’re eager to get into a new building, said police Chief Kenneth Gregory, but the department isn’t surprised by construction delays.

“It’s not going to be finished until it’s finished,� Gregory said. “Hopefully we don’t run into any more delays.�