School district faces lawsuit by contractor

An Old Bethpage construction company has filed a notice of claim against the South Country Central School District alleging the school system has refused to pay more than $1.9 million in fees for construction work the contractor performed as part of a systemwide reconstruction project.

The company, CIA Construction Group, performed the work on the grounds of Bellport Senior High School and Bellport Middle School last summer, said Chris Isaza, part owner of the company. The work was part of a $111-million school bond project that began in 2004 and is scheduled to finish by this fall.

The work was "90 percent complete" when Greg Miglino, the district's building services administrator, ordered the contractor in September to stop without cause, Isaza said.

Miglino - who served as the district's board of education president until July 1, when he assumed his current position - adamantly denied the accusation, and said "the claim, from the district's point of view, is outrageous." The job was not close to finished when CIA was taken off the job for "incomplete and clearly deficient" work, said Charles Segal, a Garden City attorney retained by the district.

CIA will file a civil suit in Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead next month if the school district does not agree to pay for the work, said Larry Hollander of Great Neck, the contractor's lawyer. Segal said the lawsuit is unnecessary, as the contractor could "discuss the facts" and "resolve the dispute amicably."

Isaza said the work consisted of laying pavement, drainage, sidewalks, curbs and preparing other site work at the two schools. He said some of the work was slowed by revisions and change orders, but the job seemed to be progressing when the district issued the stop work order.

The company has not been paid anything for its work and has spent more than $1.3 million on the job and attorney's fees, Isaza said.

"I don't go to work for free," he said. "I don't know anyone that works for free."

Some recent South Country school board meetings have featured heated debate between district officials and representatives from CIA Construction, who have attended the meetings to demand to be paid for their work, said school board member Lisa Grossman. She declined to take a side on the issue, but said it appears to be driven by "personality."

About 100 people attended a school board meeting in Brookhaven Wednesday night in which Isaza used a public comment period to accuse the board of "ongoing abuse." Board president Victor Correa said the board would not debate the issue during a public meeting.

The district includes Bellport, Brookhaven and East Patchogue.