ALLENTOWN – The Allentown Borough Council has approved the settlement of litigation that was filed against the municipality by AWT Environmental Services Inc. Allentown will pay the company $17,5000 for excavation and disposal services it provided at the borough’s waste water treatment plant.
The settlement was ratified at the council’s Jan. 22 meeting. Municipal officials said the firm was hired to remove a berm at the treatment plant on Breza Road. An estimate was provided by the company regarding the amount of material to be removed.
The estimated amount of material to be removed and disposed of was not accurate and the company ended up removing and disposing of a significant amount more than the initial estimate, according to borough officials. The firm sought payment for all the work it had completed.
On Aug. 21, 2018, AWT Environmental Services filed a notice of claim for a mechanic’s lien with the borough clerk seeking payment for those services, according to a resolution.
On Aug. 30, the company filed a complaint in state Superior Court seeking to enforce the mechanic’s lien.
On Oct. 9, Allentown filed an answer to AWT Environmental Services’ complaint, denying allegations the legal action contained and seeking discharge of the mechanic’s lien.
Since that time, according to Borough Attorney Greg Cannon, the parties agreed the action involved arguable and disputed questions of fact and law.
During the course of litigation, AWT Environmental Services and Allentown reached “an amicable settlement of the claims and controversies that are the subject of the lien and the action,” according to the resolution.
Cannon said the two sides settled on a payment from the borough of $17,500. He said the matter essentially worked in Allentown’s favor because the cost to remove the extra material was performed by the AWT Environmental Services employees who were already at the treatment plant.
He said that the work was likely performed at a lower rate than Allentown would have paid if the borough hired a second company specifically to remove the extra material AWT Environmental Services removed from the property.
Council President Thomas Fritts and council members Angela Anthony, Robert Strovinsky, Rob Schmitt, John A. Elder III and Michael Drennan voted to approve the settlement.