Construction on the Butler County Prison hit another roadblock when the contractor notified the county last week of a possible delay.

County solicitor Julie Graham said this latest construction problem will not push back the April 2009 completion date if the it can be resolved quickly.

In a one-sentence letter dated July 11, the general contractor, Rycon Inc., notified Butler County that it has been delayed because of "the absence of mechanical and electrical prime contractors" at the jail site.

Those subcontractors -- Clista Electric, of Leechburg, and Wayne Crouse Inc., of Pittsburgh -- are refusing to return to work because previous delays have forced them to operate at a loss.

Ms. Graham said Clista and Crouse are asking for "substantial" compensation.

"We're not in a position to pay that," Ms. Graham said. "But we're talking to them about how we can solve this."

The original general contractor on the project, A.G. Cullen Construction, of Sharpsburg, walked off the project in December 2007. Butler County filed a suit against the insurance company that bonded Cullen, Traveler's Casualty & Surety Co., of Hartford, Conn.

Traveler's named Rycon as a replacement contractor in May, and at that point Rycon was able to set a new completion date of April 14, 2009.

This latest delay is not directly related to the issues the county had with Cullen or its lawsuit with Traveler's, which Ms. Graham said is in the primary objections stage.

Ms. Graham said that negotiations between the county and the two absent contractors are moving "extremely quickly" and that a new agreement could be ratified at a public meeting next week.