HMG claims city breached contract

In responding to the lawsuit filed by the city of Vandalia on a project in the western Interstate 70 interchange, its consulting engineering firm claims that the suit should be dismissed because the city didn’t comply with a contract signed for the project.

HMG Engineers of Carlyle responded last week to the suit filed last month in which the city seeks a judgment of $361,370.18. The city alleges that the engineering firm was negligent in preparing plans and specifications for a boring project.

The city suit claims that the negligence resulted in a subcontractor striking a subterranean wing wall of a box culvert.

In its motion to dismiss filed last week, HMG claims that the contract for the project calls for unsettled claims, counterclaims and disputes to be resolved through “mediation by a mediator agreeable to both parties.”

HMG claims that if the dispute cannot be resolved through mediation, then either party may seek to have the matter resolved through court action.

The engineering firm alleges that the city has not “alleged or provided any factual support indicating that it either gave HMG notice of the disputes raised in its complaint or that the disputes were negotiated between them in good faith.”

HMG claims that because the city failed to comply with conditions of the contract prior to filing city, it is in breach of the contract.

At last week’s meeting of the Vandalia City Council, City Attorney Jack Johnston notified alderman that HMG has notified the city that it wants to proceed with the contract verbiage that allows for the matter to be resolved through mediation.