GlensideLocal has learned that Jenkintown Borough has settled a lawsuit filed against them by B Blair Corporation of Ivyland, Pennsylvania.

According to the settlement agreement dated April 1, 2019, the Borough will pay B Blair Corporation $23,500 for “demo work” performed at 441 Leedom Street in Jenkintown.

The Borough has offered this settlement to “avoid the expense and distraction of further litigation between Blair and Jenkintown.”

This seems to put an end to a series of events that began on December 7, 2017, when construction work ongoing at 441 Leedom Street went awry as contractors working on the house lowered a pallet of roofing shingles by crane on the building, causing a partial collapse.

The Borough claimed that the damage to the building “caused an immediate and/or imminent threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public and constituted a nuisance.”

The Borough has not produced evidence of this, however. We have asked for documents indicating an inspection by a qualified engineer and/or photographs of the scene.

This settlement was discussed at the Borough Council meeting on April 24th in a manner that suggested an agreement had yet to be reached.

According to the complaint filed by B Blair in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas on January 14, 2019, they were called in by the Borough to perform an “emergency demolition” at 441 Leedom. Blair claimed they then entered into a verbal agreement with Borough Manager George Locke to perform the work.

Blair’s invoice for $23,500 went unpaid despite repeated inquiries to the Borough, according to the complaint.

Yesterday, April 29, the Borough filed a lien against 441 Leedom which is owned by DMPAG, Inc. of Huntington Valley for the cost of the demolition.

We’ll post more as we learn more.