During Monday’s voting session, the City Council approved a settlement agreement with Patterson-Stevens, ending years of litigation pertaining to renovation work on Tracy Plaza that resulted in damage to the Jamestown Police Department and Jamestown Fire Department. Pictured is Tracy Plaza. P-J file photo

The City Council voted Monday to end litigation and approve a settlement agreement with Patterson-Stevens regarding a dispute over former work conducted at Tracy Plaza.

Elliot Raimondo, city corporation counsel, explained that the city and Patterson-Stevens had dueling lawsuits that originated when the city hired Patterson-Stevens to renovate Tracy Plaza in 2017.

During the renovation of the “deck area” of Tracy Plaza, which forms the roof of the Jamestown Fire Department and Jamestown Police Department, a September 2017 rainstorm caused water to flood and damage both departments.

In February 2019, the city filed a lawsuit in Chautauqua County Supreme Court through its insurance company against Patterson-Stevens as a result of water damage to the Jamestown Fire Department and Jamestown Police Department. The city’s initial lawsuit was for $2 million in payments due to alleged negligence against Patterson-Stevens.

In July 2020, Patterson-Stevens filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming the city breached its contract by delaying the start of Tracy Plaza renovations, issuing an “improper” stop work order, causing interference with the company’s performance of the contract, withholding payment from the contractor and delaying the project’s completion date. The initial lawsuit by Patterson-Stevens was for $306,048.

“A couple of years ago, we ended up taking a settlement from them over the fire department,” Raimondo said.

Regarding the city’s long litigation battle with Patterson-Stevens, Raimondo said the lawsuit involved the city alleging negligence against Patterson-Stevens for “shoddy work” conducted on the roof of the fire department and the police department.

Raimondo said the city’s allegation of negligence against Patterson-Stevens resulted in two different lawsuits. He explained that the lawsuit involving damage to the Jamestown Fire Department was resolved in 2021 to the city’s benefit.

The settlement agreement approved by the City Council on Monday was for the lawsuit regarding the Jamestown Police Department’s roof. Raimondo said the matter was worked on “extensively” by himself and outside attorney Joseph Calimeri.

“Patterson-Stevens will be paying the city an amount of money, and we will be paying them an amount of money to just close all of our claims,” Raimondo said.

The City Council’s approval of the settlement agreement will allow the city to discontinue litigation efforts and resolve the dispute with Patterson-Stevens. The city will pay Patterson-Stevens $155,000, while Patterson-Stevens will pay the city $75,000 to resolve the litigation matter.

According to Raimondo, the litigation with Patterson-Stevens has taken many years to resolve. As a result, Raimondo said the city would like to “put that behind us.”

Asked if this settlement finalizes the litigation efforts between the city and Patterson-Stevens, Raimondo said, “Yes, we will be done with Patterson-Stevens, and they will be done with us.”