Smithtown to pay Verizon $12G for damage

The Town of Smithtown will pay Verizon more than $12,000 for damage to the company’s equipment caused when a contractor cut wires and fiber-optic cables at a town facility in Kings Park.

A crew working for Pioneer Landscaping and Asphalt Paving Inc., of Kings Park, inadvertently damaged an underground conduit containing Verizon cables and wires during excavation at the Smithtown Municipal Services Facility last September, town attorney John Zollo said Tuesday. That damage caused wires to be pulled from a wall in a nearby building, he said.

Pioneer Landscaping agreed to pay Smithtown $13,356.89 for the damage, Zollo said. From that amount, Smithtown will pay a $12,156.89 settlement, he said.

A woman who answered the phone yesterday at Pioneer Landscaping declined to comment and did not identify herself.

A Verizon spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The settlements were approved last week by the Smithtown Town Board.