Contractor’s suit against school district settled for $400,000

By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
   The Princeton Regional Board of Education has agreed to pay $400,000 to the primary contractor for general construction work on Littlebrook Elementary School and Riverside Elementary School to settle a lawsuit.
   The contractor, Imperial Construction Group Inc., filed the lawsuit against the board in Mercer County Superior Court, after completing work on the two schools.
   The suit sought $788,210 plus interest for alleged damages incurred while working on the schools. It included claims for unpaid contract balance, disputed change order work and increased costs incurred as a result of delays and resequenced work.
   Imperial broke ground at the two schools in March 2003 as part of the school district’s launching of an $81.3 million school renovation and expansion project for all of six of its schools.
   Under the terms of the settlement, Imperial will dismiss all its claims against the school board in exchange for $400,000.
   ”It was a good settlement for the schools,” said board President Alan Hegedus, during a phone interview Monday. “More than half of the money was not in dispute.”
   Mr. Hegedus said the suit’s settlement marks the conclusion of all suits filed against the school board regarding construction projects over the past seven years.
   He added that the board still expected another lawsuit to be filed against it by the contractor that completed construction work on Princeton Regional High School, during the same period of time.
   Representatives of Imperial did not return phone calls.