Clark County School District to get $5M to settle lawsuit over air conditioning work
Clark County School District will collect more than $5 million after settling a lawsuit dating from 2012, when an air conditioning contractor working on 15 schools abandoned the projects and declared bankruptcy.
In U.S. District Court, Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen on Thursday approved the settlement between the district and Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, which insured general contractor Big Town Mechanical LLC to upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, systems at campuses across the Las Vegas Valley.
Big Town had agreed to complete about $45 million in HVAC work but went bankrupt in 2013. The district sued later that year, prompting Travelers to finish the job at a cost of about $4.5 million.
The district and Travelers negotiated a settlement in December, with Travelers agreeing to pay $5 million “as compensation for numerous delays caused by (Big Town’s) failure to timely complete the HVAC renovations,” according to court records. Travelers also agreed to the district keeping about $600,000 in remaining contract balances for the projects.
The settlement avoid a trial this year before U.S. District Judge James Mahan.
The campuses whose HVAC systems eventually were upgraded include Bendorf, Bowler, Eisenberg, Fong, Herr, Kahre, Katz, Lunt, Mitchell, Nate Mack, Thorpe, Ute Perkins, Wynn, Hill, and Woolley elementary schools.
Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton
