After meeting in executive session March 14, the Newcastle Board of Selectmen authorized its attorneys to file suit against Pine Tree Engineering, of Bath, for damages related to the firm’s “engineering and oversight of” a 2007 Lynch Road construction project.
The suit will charge Pine Tree Engineering with negligence, Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier said March 15.
The action stems from the firm’s replacement of a 14-inch cement box culvert on Lynch Road in 2007, Grenier said.
The town paid Pine Tree Engineering approximately $125,000 to replace the culvert, Grenier said. Pine Tree Engineering opted for a smaller, 10-inch replacement, which failed in 2008.
Last year, as part of Phase I of the ongoing Lynch Road construction project, a town contractor replaced the culvert again, returning to the original size and costing the town another $100,000.
The Newcastle Board of Selectmen, with the counsel of attorneys Peter Drum and Patrick Parson and road commissioner Steve Reynolds, spent a year developing its case before making the decision to sue, Grenier said.
The town will seek to recoup the cost to replace the failed culvert, as well as legal and other associated fees, Grenier said.
Representatives of Pine Tree Engineering did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
