The Trenton Times published the following article on April 22, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

City contractor files lawsuit against Trenton for $19,000 in unpaid bills

By Erin Duffy/The Times of Trenton 
on April 21, 2013 at 9:05 AM, updated April 21, 2013 at 9:07 AM

TRENTON — Frustrated with what one attorney called two years of finger-pointing between the city and Trenton Free Public Library, a longtime city contractor has filed a lawsuit against both parties to recoup $19,000 in unpaid bills for work performed at the library’s main branch.

In a civil complaint filed Wednesday, Marshall Industrial Technologies Inc. alleges both the city and library failed to pay eight invoices for work on the library’s heating and cooling systems from October 2010 to February 2012, bills that total $19,579.

The company has worked on city jobs since 1990 and was either awarded work through public bidding or had a long-standing emergency repair contract with the city.

Over the past two years, Marshall was called out several times by the city to make repairs to the aging heating system at the Trenton Library main branch on Academy Street. Each time, Marshall was contacted by the city’s Division of Public Property and city or library staff gave Marshall workers access to the building, the suit contends. No invoices submitted to city public property division head Harold Hall or the library’s board of trustees were ever contested, but none were paid either, according to George Dougherty, the attorney representing Marshall.

The two parties have been at odds over whose responsibility it is to pay Marshall, Dougherty said. The city has refused to pay up, saying the bills are the responsibility of the library board. The library board argues that Mayor Tony Mack, an ex-officio member of the board, agreed that the city would pay for any library repairs in 2010.

“I e-mailed the city over the last few weeks saying, ‘let’s not have a finger-pointing contest over this,’” Dougherty said. “This is silly. We’ve got invoices, you’ve got the services. The library is owned by the city and it needed repairs. You’re going to lose this case.”

The city’s law department never responded to Dougherty’s request to settle the bills outside of court, so Marshall decided to go ahead and file suit, he said.

“It’s under $20,000 and they did all the work,” Dougherty said.

City law director Caryl Amana referred a reporter to business administrator Sam Hutchinson on Friday. Hutchinson and Trenton Library executive director Kimberly Matthews did not return calls for comment.