Beckley Mechanical seeks close to $100,000

HUNTINGTON - A contractor is claiming it is owed almost $100,000 for work it did on Huntington's financially troubled Foster Foundation Woodlands Retirement Community.

Beckley Mechanical Inc. filed a lawsuit July 6 in Cabell Circuit against Foster Foundation, Trimat, Inc. and Travelers Indemnity Co.

Foster Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides homes to retirees in the Huntington area. In 2005, Cabell Circuit Judge David Pancake ruled against the agency, saying it owed more than $4 million in back taxes.

Trimat was a contractor hired for the Woodlands Wing 6 project on which Beckley Mechanical also worked.

Beckley Mechanical claims the Foster Foundation entered into a contract with Trimat on Aug. 29, 2002, and Trimat subcontracted it later that year to provide heating, ventilation and air conditioning for the Woodlands Wing 6 units.

The total contract price ended up being $1,143,355, of which Beckley Mechanical claims $96,506.80 is unpaid. Travelers Indemnity, the lawsuit says, provided the loan Trimat would use to pay Beckley Mechanical.

Beckley Mechanical says Trimat and the Foster Foundation have "been unjustly enriched by the work herein described by the non-payment to Beckley Mechanical, Inc."

Beckley Mechanical filed a Mechanic's Lien against the defendants. It is seeking the unpaid amount, court costs and reimbursement for costs incurred while filing the lien.

Brian D. Yost of Charleston law firm Holroyd and Yost is representing the plaintiff.

Judge John Cummings has been assigned the case.

Cabell Circuit Court case number 06-C-489