Milwaukee close to offering City Hall facade settlement

Milwaukee is one step closer to settling with contractors involved in the City Hall facade lawsuit.

The Milwaukee Common Council unanimously adopted a resolution that would allow the city attorney’s office to offer a settlement to three of the contractors hired in 2005 to repair and rebuild parts of the City Hall facade.

When the units started to crack and crumble in 2011, the city sued Massachusetts-based Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger Inc., as well as Milwaukee-based Engberg Anderson Inc. and Bloom Cos. LLC, and Janesville-based J.P Cullen & Sons Inc.

The city attorney is not pursuing a settlement with Cullen.

Under the proposed settlement, Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger would pay $9 million, Engberg Anderson would pay $1.85 million, and Bloom Cos. would pay $1.5 million.

“This is no guarantee that they will accept this offer,” Alderman Ashanti Hamilton said in discussion, “but it’s quite a motivator.”

The resolution will now go to the Mayor Tom Barrett for his decision. If he approves, the city attorney will be clear to offer the settlements.