Tuesday, June 30, 1998
Theis, county settle jail construction suit
By Jodi Billerman
Staff Writer
Luke Theis Enterprises and the Seneca County Board of Commissioners have reached a settlement in the $750,000 breach-of-contract suit Theis filed in 1993 after withdrawing from work on the Seneca County Jail.
A stipulation of dismissal filed Friday in the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas states, ''All parties to this action hereby stipulate and represent to the Court that all claims asserted in this lawsuit have been settled.
''Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate that this action be dismissed with prejudice with each party to bear its own costs.''
Also signing the stipulation were attorneys for Ohio Farmers Insurance Co. &emdash; which paid for the project after Theis' withdrawal &emdash; and Poggemeyer Design Group, architects for the project.
The county had hired Theis for general construction work on the jail in June 1992 at a cost of $2.4 million. In December, 1992, Theis defaulted on his contract to build the projected $6.8 million jail, now in use at the junction of US 224 and SR 100.
Before withdrawing, Theis was paid $658,442 of the $2,463,600 contract, the remainder of which was then paid to Ohio Farmers for completion.
Ohio Farmers then paid Studer-Obringer Inc. $1,955,000 to complete the job.
In the suit, Theis explained his withdrawal by claiming that the county had breached its contract by:
* Failing to provide a site on which to perform work.
* Failing to obtain necessary permits.
* Failing to adequately design the project.
* Failing to properly coordinate the work.
Following Theis' suit, the county filed a $2.4 million civil countersuit, claiming the county had suffered losses due to Theis' delay and default.
Seneca County Board of Commissioners President Kenny Estep said the settlement resolves the original suit and the county's subsequent countersuit, but could not release details until Robert M. Anspach Associates, the county's attorney in the matter, confirmed that all parties had signed.
Estep expects details to be available today.