Sandpebble Wants More

Sandpebble Builders, which won about $750,750 in damages last year following a jury trial in a suit against the East Hampton School District, filed an appeal in the State Supreme Court Appellate Division on Feb. 3 contesting that amount, according to Stephen R. Angel of Esseks, Hefter, Angel, DiTalia & Pasca of Riverhead, the builder’s attorney. The award comes to about $1.6 million when interest is included.

 The dispute goes back to 2002, when  Sandpebble, a Southampton firm, signed a contract for major renovations of the district’s three schools. The district subsequently signed a contract with a different construction company claiming the scope of the work had increased. The district sued Sandpebble, which in turn countersued the district, seeking $3.7 million in damages, plus interest.

The work had been estimated originally to cost $18 million, with Sandpebble receiving 5 percent of the total cost. In 2004, however, the district failed to ratify the agreement.  It had reportedly proposed that Sandpebble complete the project at a less favorable rate. Sandpebble balked and after more negotiations rejected the proposal. The school then contracted with the second construction company, and eventually the project wound up costing some $80 million.

After many years of motions and an 11-day trial, on May 26, 2016, a State Supreme Court jury in the courtroom of Justice Jerry Garguilo rejected the district’s claims and found for the defendant. Sandpebble was awarded $755,000, and the district was ordered to pay 9 percent interest on that amount dating back to 2006, when Sandpebble brought suit claiming the contract had been violated.

This is not the first time the case has gone to the appellate level. In an appeal decided in 2009, a divided court rejected the school district’s request that Sandpebble’s principal owner, Victor Canseco, be named as a co-defendant. The court ruled that he was protected as a corporate officer.

The school district has already paid the amount it was ordered to come up with, which came to about $1.6 million with interest. It also has already spent about $3 million on attorneys’ fees. It has been represented by Steven G. Pinks of Pinks, Arbeit, Nemeth of Hauppauge. Mr. Angel said it probably would be a year or more before the court considered the appeal.