After almost two football seasons, Ball State University is locked in a custody battle of sorts over Scheumann Stadium with a subcontractor that worked on the renovation.
Ball State University sued the excavating company after it filed a mechanic's lien on the stadium.
When someone files a lien against another person or company, he or she is making a legal claim to property of the person or company to secure payment of a debt.
Ball State's associate vice president of finance Randy Howard said he couldn't comment on the legal aspects of the case and wasn't sure if it would be resolved in or out of court.
Ball State contracted with Shook Construction of Indianapolis for renovation to the stadium in 2006, Howard said. Shook hired Boyer Corp. Excavating.
Boyer Corp. owner Brad Boyer said he did excavating and foundation work at the stadium from September 2006 to August 2007.
Boyer said he filed the lien against Ball State in May 2008 because he hasn't been paid for part of the work he did.
"We gave them a very, very nice quality project," Boyer said. "$14 million worth of work is really quite an accomplishment. Everybody did great work. BSU got their money's worth. Now that it's over with, it would be nice if I could get the rest of my money."
Howard said because Ball State's contract is with Shook, not Boyer Corp., it won't pay Boyer. The university has satisfied or is in the process of satisfying all of its contractual obligations to Shook, he said.
The lawsuit is to show that the lien is invalid, Howard said, and has nothing to do with payment.
"Boyer's a great company, and we're certainly not trying to hurt a local company," he said.
The lien is invalid because Indiana law prohibits filing liens on government property, and it wasn't filed within 90 days of the non-payment, he said.
Boyer said he is not sure what he should do. He hasn't had time to look further into it since he found out he was being sued. He said he hasn't contacted a lawyer because hasn't had the time nor the money.
"Odd thing to me is the recorder's office had no problems taking [the lien]," he said.
He received about 75 percent of the amount agreed upon, he said, but the rest is "caught up" between Ball State and Shook. Boyer said Shook owes him $129,808.
Representatives from Shook declined to comment.
Boyer said the dispute ruined his credit and his small business is on the "brink of disaster."
"I don't know if the general contractor is the difference," Boyer said. "We're taking a royal reaming and it's very disappointing."
He said he has worked on several projects for Ball State in the past, including its football training facility. He said he was disappointed because he and his family were supporters of the university.
"I thought in this state we were all about small business," Boyer said.
Boyer has been in contact with Howard several times, he said. He tried to contact director of engineering and operations at Ball State, Jim Lowe, about his situation, he said, because Lowe was the "guru" who determined who got paid for fulfilling contracts. He said he has been unsuccessful and found it puzzling that only one person is in charge of that at a university of this size.
Lowe said he didn't receive any messages from Boyer but he knew Howard spoke with him.
Lowe said he and several other people within Facilities Planning and Management determine whether construction jobs at Ball State were completed and whether they were done to the specifications of the contract. When they come to their conclusion, they make a recommendation to Howard on whether the contractor should be paid.
Howard said the university has no problem with Boyer but his dispute should be with Shook.
"We're kind of a bystander," he said, "but at the same time we can't have someone filing liens on our property."
Specifics of the suit
Boyer Corp. owner Brad Boyer said his time and material authorization sheet shows that Devon Kellum, project superintendent at Shook, authorized a payment of $18,814 to Boyer Corp. for the labor and materials to remove a ramp leading into the stadium.
Boyer said he received a document from Shook that reviewed that job. According to the document, Shook agreed to pay him about half of the approved payment.
Boyer had several time and material authorization sheets signed by Kellum. The recap document showed Shook's analysis of each job Boyer did as a subcontractor, the amount approved on the time and material sheets and the amount Shook agreed to pay Boyer after its analysis. Most of the amounts Shook paid were about half of the approved payments and it didn't pay Boyer at all for several projects.
Below are the documents pertaining to the case.
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