The Greeley tribune., 1909-05-26
AFFECTS ONE OF THE BIG lRRI.
CATION PROJECTS
TO ANNULL The CONTRACT
North Sterling and Empire COnstruc-
tiOn Company Alleged to Hsve
Altered Wording Of Con.
tract With y Denver
Construction Firm

hoSHsdtiohal CHdTkeS concerning LNe
manner in which the North Sterling
irrigation district and the Empire
Construction company are alleged to
have changed the wording of the
contract entered into with the Ga1y
4 keefe Construction company for
the completion of the reservoir and
dam near Sterling, Colo, and which
may materially affect the immense r.
rigation project under way in Logan
county, have been filed in the dis
trict court at Denver by John Gaffy.
Gaffy asks for an injunction
against Charles w. Johnson. Arthur
f. Buchard and w. b. Giaicomini,
the heads of the North Sterling irri-
cation district. the International
Trust company and the Empire Con-
struction company, Camtield Il
Shields, to annul the present con-
tract with the Gaffy 4 Keefe con-
cern and to prevent the issuance by
the irrigation district of $4,000 900
worth of bonds authorized at a meet
ing of stock holders held May Z, 1909.
A second suit for specific perform
ance of the contract as claimed to
have been originally made has also
been filed.
The complaints are lengthy ones,
as the original contract is embodied
in full. The application for the in
junction then goes on to allege that
the purported contract now in force
;,1l ,ln in,
eral particulars regarding the man
ner of construction and tue materials
&c ssoos be issued: that the contract is In
violation of the statutes of the state
covering irrigation districts, and
that the contract is not the same as
that which was advertised and upoN
which bids We're requested and re-
ceived IL is further asserted that
the contract entered into betweer
the irrigation district and the EN-
pire Construction company in the
.irst place has also beer altered, and
that il is also in violation o ,ae
statutes.
The purported alterations are
then gone into in detail, after which
the complaint makes the startling
allegation that if the terms of the
contract as it is said to stand now
are complied with. the Gaffy & keefe
Construction company will have to
pay out s22S.92S.66 more to com
plete the work than the bid made by
that concern, and that the Empire
Construction company Will be relleN
ed of Mt least $4,000 worth OF WORK,
which will add that amount to the
cost of construction of the dam ana
reservoir to the petitioners.
Gaffy sues for himself and all oth-
ers similarly situated. He asks ioi
the cancellation of the contract and
for an injunction against the three
men above named and the lnterna-
tioual Trust company to prevent the
issuance of the bonds and for su'h
other relief as the court may allow
him.
II will be remembered that the
contract was first awarded TO th'
Gaffy and Keefe company OF Denver
which bid something like S4oo,oOl
less than the Camiield company, bu'
when il came to show down lhe
Denver concern would not put up the
bonds to insure tho complexion o'
the work. The directors then gave
the contract to the next lowest plo'
ders. which was Ih" Empire Con
struction company. The work IN lhe
Sterling district may be tied up ioi
the present year and if so the con
tractors will no doubt put their en-
tire force in the Greeley-Poudre alS.
trict, as it is very likely they VII
he given the work as soon as the
bonds are voted and sold.