CHARLESTON — A municipal sewer utility is suing a surety company and a reinsurer, alleging breach of contract.
The Sanitary Board of the City of Charleston filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against Colonial Surety Company and PartnerRe Insurance Company of New York, alleging they owe more than $2.7 million.
According to the complaint, on Sept. 22, 2016, the Charleston Sanitary Board it entered into a contract with Tri-State Pipeline Inc. as principal and contractor for contract 15-1 for the Porters Branch & Spring Branch Sanitary Sewer improvements and contract 15-2 for the Callie Road & Anderson Heights Sanitary Sewer Improvements with a single combined amount of $9,876,186.44.
The suit says the sanitary board opted to terminate the contract on grounds that Tri-State is extremely behind schedule. However, the lawsuit states, the defendants as surety and re-insurer, demanded to be given the right to complete the work or they do not have to pay plaintiff.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants have failed to perform their obligations under the performance bond and reinsurance agreements, caused further delay to the project, and failed to pay monies from the surety bond despite its contractual obligations.
The Charleston Sanitary Board seeks trial by jury, judgment against for the plaintiff's actual loss and damages in a sum not less than $2,718,407.11, plus pre-judgment interest at the contract rate and post-judgment interest at the statutory rate, additional fees and costs, and all further just relief. It is represented by attorneys David A. Barnette, Vivian H. Basdekis and Chelsea A. Creta of Jackson Kelly PLLC in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 18-cv-01100