Jury: Pay Sandpebble $750K

In a dispute with Sandpebble Builders that dates back to 2006, the East Hampton School District has spent more than $3 million in legal fees, but with a New York State Supreme Court decision last week, the costly dispute appears to finally be nearing its end.

Last Thursday, a jury concluded that the school district should pay Sandpebble Builders about $750,750. The company, which had originally been hired to manage the multimillion-dollar renovation of all three district buildings, had been seeking damages of $3.7 million plus accrued interest in a sued alleging that East Hampton had wrongfully terminated its contract.

Sandpebble sued after the school administration signed a new contract with a different construction company when the scope of the work increased dramatically. The district eventually countered with a lawsuit of its own to limit the damages that Sandpebble could collect. After many years of delays, jury selection began on May 9; the trial began the following day.

Mr. Burns announced the outcome in press release on Friday. He later said by email East Hampton does not plan to appeal the decision and that there is sufficient money available as encumbered funds in the school’s budget to pay Sandpebble the sum that the jury determined the district owes. The district may also have to pay accrued interest, the amount of which will be determined in a conference with Justice Jerry Garguilo “to discuss the details of the decision by the jury,” Mr. Burns said.

Isabel Madison, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said in an email yesterday that East Hampton has paid about $3.12 million to its attorneys since the Southampton construction company sued in 2006. East Hampton is represented by Steven G. Pinks of the Hauppauge firm Pinks, Arbeit & Nemeth, which it hired in 2011 to replace a previous law firm.

Before yesterday’s figure, Richard Burns, East Hampton’s superintendent, said in January that legal fees had approached $2.8 million.