Company preparing environmental report claims it was not paid in full

The Daily Journal

A Petaluma firm hired to complete a Tribal Environmental Impact Report (TEIR) for a casino the Pinoleville Pomo Nation plans to build has sued the tribe for breach of contract, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records.

According to the civil lawsuit filed April 19, Kennec, Inc. alleges the tribe did not pay the firm the total amount of compensation agreed upon in a contract signed June 15, 2009.

Kennec claims it was to be paid $162,666 for preparing the TEIR, a draft of which was released last month. However, the firm alleges the tribe only paid it $117,119, and then "refused to pay Kennec for additional work demanded by (the tribe) and completed by Kennec ... and made it impossible for Kennec to earn the final $45,546 payment and $25,000 bonus contemplated by the TEIR contract."

Kennec claims that the tribe's "substantial changes to the original design, size and planned structures for the casino project site, combined with (the tribe's) demands that Kennec complete work outside the scope of the parties' original TEIR contract, caused Kennec to spend substantial time performing additional work to prepare the (TEIR) report."

The proposed facility includes a 90,000-square-foot casino, a 72,100-square-foot hotel with 125 rooms and banquet facilities, and a five-level parking garage. The tribe expects the facility will attract up to 3,500 customers a day, and

employ approximately 215 people.

The proposed site is located within the Pinoleville Reservation, approximately one mile north of the Ukiah city limits and adjacent to the U.S. 101 bridge at Ackerman Creek. North State Street is the main access route to the project site from U.S. 101.

In October of 2009, Kennec requested payment for $39,859 of additional work "outside the scope of the original contract," and was paid nearly the full sum. Two months later, Kennec requested payment for another $89,379 worth of additional work, plus money still owed, for a total of $90,959.

Kennec claims the tribe refused to pay the amount due, "adversely impacting Kennec's finances and cash flow available for other business operations." In January, the firm issued a "stop work order" on the TEIR contract.

Kennec's lawsuit claims it is owed $90,959.40 for compensatory damages and $70,546.48 in consequential damages for a total of $161,505.88, along with interest, reasonable attorneys' fees and other costs.

The tribe filed a "Motion to Quash Service of Summons," but last Friday it was denied, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records, allowing the lawsuit to move forward.