For county taxpayers, there's now cause for some cautious optimism regarding the prison construction project.

The bonding company for the former general contractor has offered a replacement company — Rycon Construction of Pittsburgh — to finish the project. And on Thursday the county commissioners announced that they would hold a public meeting at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the county Government Center "for the purpose of considering various items relative to construction" of the prison, one of which is expected to be Rycon's hiring.

But even if prison construction is completed without a glitch, that won't guarantee a smooth road to overall project completion for county officials.

A. G. Cullen Construction of Pittsburgh, the original general contractor that walked off the job in December, is suing the county for breach of contract, and the Cost Co., Cullen's masonry subcontractor, is suing Cullen and Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. of America, Cullen's bonding company, for breach of contract, and the county for unjust enrichment — benefiting from work performed by Cost for which the county has not made payment.

Meanwhile, Travelers on May 1 amended a lawsuit it has filed against Cullen to include the county as a defendant.

The county — meaning the county's taxpayers — is facing big legal bills stemming from that pending litigation that could take years to resolve.

Still, there's cause for county officials to breathe a sigh of relief. In selecting Rycon, Travelers has picked a company that boasts a good record in terms of the projects on which it has worked. Rycon has worked for a number of high-profile clients in the Pittsburgh area, including the Pittsburgh International Airport, retailers and restaurants.

County residents are safe in presuming that even if Rycon gets the commissioners' OK on Tuesday, general construction won't be able to resume at full speed immediately. There were indications months ago that some problems stemming from Cullen's time on the job — including problems with some floors — would have to be rectified by whomever was Cullen's replacement.

Meanwhile, Rycon, if approved, as expected, will have to determine the full scope of unfinished work from the get-go so there are no omissions along the way.

As part of the general construction resumption, county officials and the Massaro Corp. of Pittsburgh, the proj-ect's construction manager, are going to have to ensure that they're on the same page regarding supervision of the project. During Cullen's time on the job, the general contractor and Massaro blamed each other for missed construction deadlines prior to Cullen leaving the project due to a payment dispute with the county.

The commissioners must ensure a framework of understanding between Rycon and Massaro so there are no further construction delays.

The project has been dogged by poor planning and contract errors such as the setting of an inflexible completion date, the blame for which must rest on the shoulders of the former board of commissioners.

The two new commissioners who took office in January and Commissioner James Kennedy, the only holdover from the former board, must make certain that errors are avoided now that construction apparently is on the verge of resuming.

It has been estimated that once the general construction work resumes, it will take 10 months for the project to be completed.

It's encouraging that a break in the construction standstill seems imminent. However, considering all that has occurred leading up to now and the fact that the project is at least $10 million above initial cost estimates, with costly legal bills tied to litigation still pending, the new facility won't be included in history books as one of Butler County government's greatest accomplishments.