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Two lawsuits filed over demolition work at Bazetta Menards store
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Sergio DiPaolo of Girard, whose demolition work in Warren, Boardman and other locations has produced criminal and civil complaints against him, is the subject of two lawsuits in relation to demolition work at the former Wal-Mart store on Elm Road in Bazetta.
Menard Inc. of Eau Clair, Wis., which is opening a Menards home store at the former Wal-Mart site, filed suit in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in late January, alleging DiPaolo’s company, DiPaolo Industrial Development, didn’t complete demolition work at the site on time or correctly.
DiPaolo Industrial Development was hired to carry out demolition, concrete-crushing, salvage, storage and milling of asphalt, the suit said. But the company failed to mill asphalt in the parking lot, remove debris from the site, crush remaining piles of concrete and remove curbs, the suit says.
DiPaolo’s company also took fencing from the site worth more than $25,000 and failed to return it, the suit says. Menard “paid in excess of $150,000” to another contractor to complete the work, the suit says.
Through the lawsuit, Menards seeks to recoup the extra $150,000 it had to spend, plus attorneys fees, interest and other costs.
DiPaolo said Monday the dispute between his company and Menards occurred because Menards would not pay him for the work he completed, so he pulled out of the job and filed a mechanic’s lien in the county recorder’s office June 30, 2014.
A mechanic’s lien is a way for someone who has not been paid for services provided to keep possession of the property involved.
DiPaolo’s lack of performance delayed the Menards project, the lawsuit said. Jeff Abbott, a Menards spokesman, said he could not comment on the lawsuit or what impact the delay had on the store’s construction. The store is likely to open this summer, he said.
DiPaolo also is being sued by 4X4s Unlimited Inc. of Amy Boyle Road in Brookfield regarding the Menards project.
The owner of 4X4s Unlimited alleges his company provided trucking services and equipment movement for DiPaolo for demolition work at the Menards site in 2014, but DiPaolo refused to pay the $16,256 that 4X4s Unlimited was owed.
DiPaolo said that 4X4s Unlimited filed its suit because of the problems he was having with Menards.
DiPaolo purchased the former Packard Electric buildings on Dana and Griswold streets in 2011 and began salvage operations without obtaining necessary demolition permits, according to city officials. Those charges eventually were resolved.
He was cited again last fall for continuing to carry out demolition work after his initial permits had expired. He returns to court April 1 on those charges.
DiPaolo and another company he owned, Source One Contractors and Developers, also agreed in 2013 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to pay a $30,000 civil penalty to resolve a complaint filed against him by the Mahoning Trumbull Air Pollution Control Agency and Ohio Attorney General’s Office regarding improper asbestos handling by his company during demolition at Boardman Supply, 7357 Southern Blvd. in Boardman, in 2005.
Mahoning County court records in January 2015 indicated he still owed $25,000 on the penalty.