Southampton Village Officials Said Architect Was Paid Nearly $400,000 For Ambulance Barn Plans

Southampton Village officials say the architect who recently filed a lawsuit against the village, claiming he wasn’t paid for a project to design a new ambulance barn, actually has been paid nearly $400,000 to date.

Last week, Ric Stott, who has been an architect for 30 years and has had an office just a couple of doors down from Village Hall for the past 22 years, filed a lawsuit against the village seeking nearly $200,000 that he said he is still owed.

According to Mr. Stott, he was not paid in full for plans he designed for a new ambulance barn for Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance, work he completed in 2015 and 2016 under contract. The original plans were for the ambulance barn to be constructed between the Southampton Village Police Station and Lola Prentice Park on Windmill Lane.

The Village Planning Board approved the plans for the $5.5 million structure in October 2016, and it was put out to bid. But the bids came in $1.6 million over budget, and the village sought out different plans.

“Ric was paid as per the contract by the village,” Southampton Village Mayor Michael Irving said last Wednesday, December 6. “Any dispute involves extras that were not part of the contract and were never approved.”

According to Steve Funsch, the village administrator, Mr. Stott was paid $370,835 toward the contract he had with the village, plus an additional $26,150 in extras, totaling $396,985.

Mr. Stott confirmed on Friday that he was paid that amount. “Our numbers match. They have paid me what they said,” he said in an email, but claimed that he was still owed an additional $185,009, which he is seeking in the lawsuit.

He noted that of the money that he was paid, a portion went to consultants and engineers. For example, fees charged to his company, Stott Architecture, for engineering and specialty consulting in the project totaled $176,225, he said, and those consultants utilized in the planning of the construction expect 100 percent of their fees paid when their work is completed.

Mr. Stott said 2,247 hours were put into the project and he did what he could to reduce costs, even negotiating engineering consultants down to a lower cost and not invoicing additional services on the basis of actual time spent on the project or any other value.

“I thought I would be thanked for my negotiating skill and my monetary consideration, but no,” Mr. Stott said.

He also added that the village trustees voted to pay for $26,150 of additional services that would go to the consultants, but voted against paying $72,330 for additional services provided by his firm.

Although in a previous article Mr. Stott said he was worried about going bankrupt, this week he said, “I’ve been in tough spots over the past 30 years and have found a way to come back without harming my creditors. I’ll find a way to climb out of this mess without hurting anyone. I hope to be able to pay all my consultants so we can continue the good work we have always provided our clients.”