SHARON, PA. Winner reaches settlement with agency

The cost of going after the rest of the money would be more than the bill.
THE VINDICATOR
SHARON, Pa. -- A long-standing dispute between the Mercer County Industrial Development Authority and Winner Development LLC over some unpaid administrative fees is over.
The two sides have settled the issue. The authority agreed to accept something less than the $31,000 it said it was owed for services provided in Winner's bid to secure a $7 million state grant to help finance the redevelopment of the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. plant on Sharpsville Avenue as an industrial park.
Winner dropped its efforts to get the grant in February 2002, but the authority said it was still owed $31,386 for services rendered and filed suit to recover the money in June 2002.
Two sides
Winner blamed the MCIDA, claiming the agency had made it impossible to secure the grant by repeatedly asking for additional project information.
The agency said it was Winner's failure to comply with state requests for information that prevented the release of the funds.
Winner has since asked the city of Sharon, through the Sharon Industrial Development Authority, to help secure the state grant, and that process continues.
Meanwhile, Winner paid MCIDA $16,932 in August 2002, leaving $14,454 in dispute.
Winner offered the MCIDA an additional $10,243 to settle the issue, and the agency's board of directors voted Friday to accept the offer.
Charles Bestwick, MCIDA board chairman, said the cost of litigation to recover the remaining $4,211 would be greater than the amount to be recovered.
MCIDA officials said they hope the project can still come to fruition, but their agency won't be a part of the project.