{"id":12316,"date":"2017-11-21T16:15:34","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T16:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minutes.machine.market\/?p=12316"},"modified":"2017-11-21T16:15:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T16:15:34","slug":"city-of-washington-owes-allegheny-crane-rental-1-15-m-after-downtown-building-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/machine.market\/blog\/city-of-washington-owes-allegheny-crane-rental-1-15-m-after-downtown-building-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Washington owes Allegheny Crane Rental $1.15 m after downtown building collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The president of Allegheny Crane Rental<\/a> of Pittsburgh, who assisted first responders at the scene of a building collapse in downtown Washington in July, demanded payment from the city during a public meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"Allegheny-Crane-Rental\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAll of us put our lives at risk,\u201d Kyrk Pyros said. \u201cWe had a great, successful outcome in a horrible situation. We\u2019re honest, hard-working people, and we need to get paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pyros, who threatened the city with a lawsuit during the council meeting Thursday, said his dealings with the city began July 12, when the three-story apartment building at 15 N. Main St. collapsed, trapping people inside. The city got court permission to begin emergency demolition the day of the collapse and hired Allegheny Crane to do the work.<\/p>\n

According to Pyros\u2019 attorney, Kelton Burgess, the city owes his client $1.15 million dollars, which includes interest to date.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI want to know how we get paid,\u201d Pyros told city council members Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Collapsed<\/a><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Collapsed building owners dispute city’s claim on demo costs<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The owners of a building that partially collapsed over the summer are disputing the more than $1.1 million bill the city claims it’s entitled to recoup for tearing down the structure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

City solicitor Michael Hammond said the city is waiting on court proceedings involving the building\u2019s owners, Mark Russo of Washington and his sister, Melissa, who lives in Colorado, and their insurance company. Hammond said the city wants to use the insurance money it expects to receive from the Russos to pay Allegheny Crane.<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re at the mercy of the court,\u201d Hammond said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019d like to pay him with that money. We don\u2019t have the funds to pay him now, short of going into debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Burgess, addressing city officials, said that if the city doesn\u2019t pay his client, it could be facing a lawsuit based on the Prompt Payment Act, which ensures that municipalities make timely payments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cContractual obligations of this city need to be honored in a timely manner,\u201d he said. \u201cThis council is inviting a lawsuit. Do the right thing \u2013 find the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Burgess said his client has \u201cbent over backward\u201d to avoid a lawsuit with the city, offering to negotiate a \u201cgood-faith\u201d payment. He said litigation will be the \u201clast resort.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cUltimately, we want to preserve our relationship with the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pyros told council his contract is with the city and he \u201chas no standing with the Russos.\u201d He said while he wants to avoid a lawsuit with the city, he needs the money to provide for his employees and their families.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s the position we\u2019ve been put in,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re making me be the person I don\u2019t want to be.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Hammond called Pyros\u2019 public statements \u201ccheap theatrics,\u201d saying the city has been in communication with Pyros every day. He said the money isn\u2019t being withheld in bad faith, but the court dealings with the Russos have slowed things down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe will continue to pursue every avenue to get everybody paid as quickly as we can,\u201d he told Pyros. \u201cWe have been and will continue to work with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hammond also said while the $1.15 million is not necessarily outside the bounds of the city\u2019s contract with Allegheny Crane, it could \u201cstill be excessive and too high for the services that were provided.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Russos\u2019 attorneys, Christian Marquis and Allison Genard, also called the bill \u201cunreasonable, high and not customary or within industry standards given the amount of work performed,\u201d in an \u201caffidavit of defenses\u201d filed in county court last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In that filing, the Russos\u2019 attorneys asked the court to \u201creduce, remove or exclude some or all of the costs or charges\u201d the city had previously claimed the Russos owe it for the demolition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The president of Allegheny Crane Rental of Pittsburgh, who assisted first responders at the scene of a building collapse in downtown Washington in July, demanded payment from the city during a public meeting Thursday. \u201cAll of us put our lives at risk,\u201d Kyrk Pyros said. \u201cWe had a great, successful outcome in a horrible situation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[96],"yoast_head":"\nCity of Washington owes Allegheny Crane Rental $1.15 m after downtown building collapse - MachineMarket Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cranemarket.com\/blog\/city-of-washington-owes-allegheny-crane-rental-1-15-m-after-downtown-building-collapse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City of Washington owes Allegheny Crane Rental $1.15 m after downtown building collapse - MachineMarket Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The president of Allegheny Crane Rental of Pittsburgh, who assisted first responders at the scene of a building collapse in downtown Washington in July, demanded payment from the city during a public meeting Thursday. \u201cAll of us put our lives at risk,\u201d Kyrk Pyros said. \u201cWe had a great, successful outcome in a horrible situation. 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