Leeward sues Sullivan West

By TOM KANE

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — The Leeward Construction Company of Honesdale, PA filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against the Sullivan West School District to recover its losses in the construction of the new high school in Lake Huntington, NY. The suit was filed at the U.S. District Court in White Plains, NY.

Leeward said that of the $1.4 million, $200,000 was owed for unpaid fees for work done and for another contractor’s work. The other contractor was not named.

Sullivan West Superintendent Alan Derry said he could not comment when the litigation was in progress.

The suit claims that the district was responsible for not developing an effective drainage system throughout the property, which delayed Leeward from working while waiting for the ground to dry out.

During the early earth-moving phase, which was the responsibility of Leeward, it was discovered that the texture of the land would not allow easy drainage.

The district had earlier contracted with The Hillier Company, the architects for the site, and with a Hillier subsidiary, Greenman & Petersen, Inc. (GPI) to design the drainage system. After the system failed, GPI designed another system, which was still inadequate.

Immediately after the failure of the second system, the district took Hillier to arbitration to settle the dispute. The case, which was filed over a year and a half ago, has not been settled.

“The school system should have involved the Army Corps of Engineers and the DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] before they started awarding contracts. They never did that,” said J. Scott Greer, attorney for Leeward.

The district had approached the DEC but only when it became necessary to move two wetland sites on the property in order to properly place tennis courts. The DEC gave its permission but did not focus on the larger problem of the failed drainage system, according to a story published by TRR on July 18, 2002.

Derry would not say if the district would take Hillier or Turner Construction, the construction manager who advised the district on all aspects of the construction, to court.

“I have not seen the litigation and cannot comment on it,” said Turner Vice President Mark Breslin. Turner employee Scott Bridie, the company’s site manager, was on vacation and could not be reached.