Summit Hill borough has been named defendant in a civil lawsuit by a contractor that worked on the new municipal building, firehouse and community center.

Hoch Mechanical Inc., of 11 S. Dauphin St., Allentown, filed the action claiming the borough and the project architect, Fedetz & Martin, have failed to pay them for work done according to the contract signed between the parties.The suit states Hoch entered into a contract in February 2008 to provide HVAC services for the newly building. The contract work was substantially completed in 2009 and on Sept. 8, 2009, Hoch states it filed the appropriate application and certification for payment to Fedetz & Martin.The application showed a payment due under the contract for $113,462.37.By letter on Sept. 14, 2009, Fedetz & Martin responded to the payment request by indicating it could not be made until certified payroll forms were submitted. Hoch claims in the suit the payroll forms were not submitted because Fedetz & Martin gave them the wrong forms.The suit further states the problem was rectified in November 2009 when certified payrolls were submitted. The suit charges, pursuant to the contract between the parties, "no other reason for withholding funds is valid unless given within seven (7) days of submission of the Application and Certification for payment."The suit further states on Oct. 28, 2009, 44 days later, Fedetz & Martin "purported to complain of certain workmanship and to terminate the contract." The suit states this letter or notice was well pass the seven days required in the contract.The suit goes on to state, "Further, the information contained in Fedetz' letter to Summit Hill of October 28, 2009, constituted representations that were untrue and/or were not Hoch's responsibility." Hoch added, "Regardless, notice was improper, late and invalid pursuant to the contract between the parties as well as Summit Hill's subsequent attempt on November 4, 2009, to terminate the contract." As of Nov. 4, Hoch states, the contract had long since been completed.The suit notes that the borough had paid subcontractor EECI $27,365.70 on Sept. 3, 2009.The suit seeks the balance from the original contract of $86,096.67 plus interest, costs and penalties.