Two contractors who worked on Waynesboro high school sue district

Plaintiffs are seeking almost $3.5 million in damages

May 01, 2012|By JENNIFER FITCH | waynesboro@herald-mail.com

Herald-Mail file photo

WAYNESBORO, Pa. — A judge will hear arguments on May 21 in a pair of lawsuits filed against the Waynesboro Area School District in which the plaintiffs are seeking almost $3.5 million in damages.

Contractors who worked on the Waynesboro Area Senior High School renovation and expansion project three years ago are suing for breach of contract and other complaints.

General contractor Lobar Inc. is asking for $2.9 million in damages, saying it incurred additional labor, material and overhead costs associated with a deficient and defective design for the building’s steel structure.

It also claimed in a complaint filed in June 2010 that the school district refused to pay $1.4 million owed to the company.

In a complaint filed in September, 2010, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning contractor Herre Bros. Inc. claimed contract documents were incomplete and inaccurate, and delays cost the company more than $594,278.

In court documents, the school district’s attorney cited sections of bid documents that said the school district is not responsible for additional labor, equipment or materials that could have been foreseen. He said the contractors would only have been entitled to an extension on the project’s required completion date.

The school district argues Lobar is not sufficiently specific about the allegations of being owed $1.4 million.

Also named in the original lawsuits are Banker Ingram & Associates, a structural engineering firm; Moore Engineering Co., a mechanical and electrical engineering firm; Alexander Building Construction, the project’s construction manager; R. Lee Royer & Associates, a Waynesboro surveying firm, and Erdman Anthony, a firm specializing in infrastructure engineering and support services.

Judge Richard Walsh is scheduled to hear two hours of oral arguments on May 21.

Ed Wilson, president of the Waynesboro Area School Board, said Tuesday that he was not aware of the hearing and had not received an update on the lawsuits from the school district superintendent in some time.

The school board’s attorney, Paul Cianci, said the hearing later this month will primarily address the possibility of combining Herre Bros. and Lobar’s lawsuits. He expects further proceedings later this year.

“I think our papers spell out clearly our positions,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

The Waynesboro Area School Board spent about $46 million renovating and expanding the school between 2007 and 2009. The project added 108,000 square feet onto the school, including a 1,600-seat auditorium and three-court gymnasium.

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