Creative Conservation, Inc. v. Township of Ridley (In re Creative Conservation, Inc.)

130 B.R. 730, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 1212
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 29, 1991
DocketBankruptcy No. 91-11276S; Adv. No. 91-0245S
StatusPublished

This text of 130 B.R. 730 (Creative Conservation, Inc. v. Township of Ridley (In re Creative Conservation, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Creative Conservation, Inc. v. Township of Ridley (In re Creative Conservation, Inc.), 130 B.R. 730, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 1212 (Pa. 1991).

Opinion

ADJUDICATION

DAVID A. SCHOLL, Bankruptcy Judge.

A. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The instant adversary proceeding is an accounts receivable action instituted by the Debtor, CRL..JTVE CONSERVATION, INC. t/a G & M HYDROGROW, a landscape and excavation contractor (“the Debtor”), on April 5, 1991, against the TOWNSHIP OF RIDLEY, a municipality located in Delaware County, Pennsylvania (“the Defendant”), in the course of the Debtor’s voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which was filed on March 6, 1991. This proceeding was heard on a must-be-tried basis on a July 17, 1991, after two prior continuances.

2. The Debtor seeks an alleged balance of payments due from the Defendant arising from a written Proposal & Contract (“the Contract”) executed on or about September 24, 1990, and effected upon the Debtor’s successful sealed bid on the Contract. In its Complaint for Turnover of Property Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 542(b) (“the Complaint”), the Debtor requests payment in the amount of $12,404.00, plus interest. However, in its post-trial submission of Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (“the Debtor’s Findings”), the Debtor claims an unpaid balance of $12,998.80, as delineated below:

Amount billed: $22,943.00
Less payments received: ( — ) 10,539.00
Credit for work not completed: ( — ) 1,235.00
“Additional quantities” at agreed-upon unit prices: (+) 1,829.80
Total Balance $12,998.80

According to the testimony of one of two brothers who are the principals of the Debtor and who is employed as its financial officer, Mark Stein (“Mark”), the “additional quantities” referred to represented work [732]*732performed by a subcontractor which was invoiced after the Complaint was filed but which, contrary to the recitation in the Debtor’s Findings, Mark agreed to waive during the course of the trial. These items were not proven or discussed further at trial. We will therefore not consider them in deciding this matter.

3.The Defendant set forth a different formulation of the account between the parties in its post-trial Proposed Findings of Fact, Discussion and Conclusions of Law, which thusly calculate that the Defendant is owed the amount of $3,906.00:

Amount of the Contract: $22,943.00
Amount paid: ( — ) 10,539.00
Amount paid to Aston Construction Company (“Aston”) by the Defendant to complete the Contract: ( — ) 10,510.00
Amount owed to the Defendant as liquidated damages for delay in performance: ( — ) 5,800.00
Amount Owed to Defendant $ 3,906.00

4.The services contemplated by the Contract were the extension of an existing storm sewer and the installation of piping and inlets at Brooke and Elder Avenues in the Defendant Township (“the Project”). Upon its execution, the Contract became the agreement between the parties, along with the Instructions to Bidders (“the Instructions”), the General Conditions, and the Special Conditions contained within the Specifications and Bid Documents for the Project (“the Specifications”) issued to all prospective bidders. Pursuant to the Contract executed by the Debtor, the Debtor bid $22,943.00 as the amount necessary for performance of the Contract.

5. Pursuant to the terms of the Contract, the Debtor was given thirty (30) “working days” from the date specified in the Notice to Proceed (“the Notice”), dated November 26, 1990, to complete performance of the Contract. In the Contract was a liquidated damages clause which assessed the Debtor $100.00 for every additional “working day” that the work under the contract was not completed beyond the thirty (30) day deadline. Pursuant to liquidated damages clauses in the Instructions and the General Conditions, the Debtor also was given notice of the potential assessment of liquidated damages for delay in performance.1 Also, pursuant to the terms of the Instructions and the Contract, the Debtor was required to examine the documents/drawings for the Project and visit the Project site.2

6. Mark testified that the Debtor did not begin work until the end of December, [733]*7331990, and that he considered the 30-day period for completion of the Contract to have begun at this time. Mark claimed that the initial delay in commencement of the Project resulted from the forwarding of the wrong Contract form to the Debtor by the Defendant and from the Debtor’s failure to receive the Notice. Mark nevertheless admitted that delays also resulted after performance began, which he attributed to the Christmas/New Year holidays and very adverse weather conditions in both January and February, 1991.

Mark further testified that the last time that the Debtor was “on the job” was in the middle to the end of February 1991. He stated that he had received correspondence (“the Letter”) dated March 8, 1991, from counsel for the Defendant which states in pertinent part as follows:

The contract calls for $100.00 per diem liquidated damages and effective today these damages are being assessed against you for non-compliance with the contractual terms. Furthermore, if the project is not substantially completed by Friday, March 15th, the Township will consider you in default and will have the job completed by another contractor an charge the same to your account.

Mark stated that the Debtor had responded to the Letter by requesting an extension for ten (10) to fifteen (15) days to complete the Contract, claiming that it was not completed at that time due to weather conditions and other circumstances beyond its control. Mark testified that the Defendant’s counter-response was a further letter from its counsel advising the Debtor that it was removed from the Project, effective March 25, 1991.

7.Gary Stein, Mark’s brother and the co-principal of the Debtor who serves as its on-site supervisor (“Gary”), testified more specifically concerning the problems with which the Debtor had been confronted during performance of the Contract, including variant plan specifications and conflicting directions from the engineer and other inspectors as to what work should be performed under the Contract. However, his testimony indicated that the time lost due to the errors in the plan was confined to a total of only several hours.

8. Mark’s testimony regarding the severity of the weather conditions during January and February was countered by testimony from Steven V. Smith (“Smith”), a Project Inspector for Charles Catania, Sr., the Defendant’s engineer on the Project (“the Engineer”). Smith testified that there was not any unusual weather during the time of performance of the Contract, and that the Debtor’s work failed to progress on these occasions (not quantified) when Gary was personally absent from the Project site and left a foreman in charge.

9. Charles J. Catania, Jr. (“Catania”), an on-site employee of the Engineer, provided testimony which purported to fill out certain ambiguities in the Contract terms. Catania stated that “working days” constitute every Monday through Friday of a week, excluding holidays and any days on which significant rain or cold prevents work.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Jordan
91 B.R. 673 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Interstate Contractors Supply Co.
568 A.2d 294 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Holt's Cigar Co. v. 222 Liberty Associates
591 A.2d 743 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Thomas H. Ross Inc. v. Seigfreid
592 A.2d 1353 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Bruno v. Pepperidge Farm, Inc.
256 F. Supp. 865 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1966)
Sutter Corp. v. Tri-Boro Municipal Authority
487 A.2d 933 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
O'Neill Construction Co. v. Philadelphia
6 A.2d 525 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1939)
Malone v. Philadelphia
23 A. 628 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1892)
York v. York Railways Co.
78 A. 128 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1910)
Egolf v. City of York
92 A. 695 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1914)
Curran v. Philadelphia
107 A. 636 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1919)
Wells v. Philadelphia
112 A. 867 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1921)
Commonwealth v. Osage Co.
355 A.2d 845 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1976)
Buckley & Co. v. Commonwealth
382 A.2d 1298 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Commonwealth v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.
396 A.2d 885 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
F. J. Busse, Inc. v. Department of General Services
408 A.2d 578 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 B.R. 730, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 1212, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/creative-conservation-inc-v-township-of-ridley-in-re-creative-paeb-1991.