UAF and the contractor hired to renovate the university museum are at-odds over $17.4 million the construction company says it's owed.

In December, the associate vice chancellor of facilities and safety, Kathleen Schedler, formally denied a claim filed by Alaska Mechanical Inc. (AMI) in June that it was owed money for additional project expenses. On Jan. 17, the company appealed.

As university spokesperson Kate Ripley explained, the dispute is currently an administrative proceeding and the courts are not actively involved, though a related civil suit is pending. The appeal means AMI will turn their claim over to the university's chief procurement officer, James Lynch.

Lynch has the power to appoint an independent third party to review the claim and determine if the university would be found legally responsible for the additional costs.

If the independent reviewer decides that the university doesn't have to pay, AMI will have a hard time proving they're owed the money to a judge.

The company does, however, have the ability to take its claim to superior court.

Museum renovations were originally scheduled to be completed by December 2004. But when students arrived on campus in fall 2005, the museum was still heavily under construction.

More than two years after the museum was supposed to be finished, construction is still on-going.

"It is mostly finished but there are a few more things left to be done," Ripley said.

AMI says its owed additional funds because the contracted cost of the remodel, which ended up being around $26 million, didn't factor in delays or other unexpected costs that were the fault of the university.

The specific request is "additional compensation in the amount of $16,374,937 and a 526 day increase in contract time," according to the company's appeal.

The company is also seeking as-yet unknown claims by subcontractors Industrial Electric and MacCheynes, bringing the total to $17.4 million.

A number of other subcontractors are also involved in the dispute.

Aaron Plumbing and Heating and BEK of Alaska Inc are two of the largest "pass-through" claimants. They are both seeking payments of more than $1 million each for work already completed on ventilation system and drywall.

In the appeal letter to Lynch, AMI Vice President Russell Schwartz rebuts Schedler's decision on the grounds that AMI was not provided with adequate evidence that their claim was unfounded.

"[UAF]'s decision was expressly based upon the opinion and assistance of 'legal, fiscal and other advisors,'" Schwartz says in the appeal. "However the [university] erred by not providing AMI with access to the underlying consultant opinions, reports, analysis and work papers upon which it relied."

Lynch will be responsible for making the final decision of the university and will base his decision on the advice of the hearing officer who reviews the claim.

A final decision will not be reached anytime soon, Ripley said.

"This stage will take some time," she said. "I hesitate to give a specific time frame for you, because that could change. But we're talking months."