By Associated Press - Friday, April 3, 2015

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) - A bonding company has sued the Brattleboro Food Co-op, saying the store hasn’t paid bills for part of its $9 million expansion project.

The Brattleboro Reformer reports (https://bit.ly/1bI41RH) Merchants Bonding Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Vermont this week. It is seeking about $336,000, plus other costs stemming from what the company said was the co-op’s failure to pay a construction company.

That firm, Baybutt Construction of Keene, New Hampshire, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013 and later dissolved. It ran into delays at projects, including the co-op. Merchants provided Baybutt with performance and payment bonds for the co-op project; the bonding company says the co-op now owes Merchants the money.

Sabine Rhyne of the co-op says it believes the lawsuit is without merit.

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Information from: Brattleboro Reformer, https://www.reformer.com/

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