Trial underway in Pine Nursery Park contract dispute

Kids who frequent Bend’s Pine Nursery Park have been forced to improvise when it comes to entertaining themselves, as the playground area has been closed off for almost a year due to a contract dispute that led to a lawsuit and a jury trial this week.

Wednesday marked the second day of a scheduled four-day trial in Deschutes County Circuit Court to resolve a payment dispute between contractors hired to provide the park improvements.

Back in 2014, J.P. Prinz was hired as the general contractor of the Pine Nursery Park project by the Bend Park and Recreation District.

After signing a payment bond with Hudson Insurance Company, J.P. Prinz entered a written agreement with Alpha Turf Northwest as the subcontractor who would provide labor and materials to the project.

Alpha Turf claims they provided services but were not compensated for their work, and they refused to provide any warranty services as a result.

” My clients claim relates to nonpayment, they did work on the park and allege that they were never paid the money that was owed, ” said Megan Burgess, lawyer for Alpha Turf. ” Over a year or so after that, they were asked to come back and perform warranty work. But our position was, when you’re never paid, our position is you don’t come back to perform warranty work. ”

Alpha Turf is claiming they were never paid the amount of $13,000.

In court Wednesday, lawyers J.P. Prinz argued the that they did not pay because the project was not completed, also claiming that Alpha Turf was not properly licensed to perform the work.

A jury is expected to make its decision on the case in the next couple of days.

KTVZ 2019