CONSTRUCTION & Material Supply Inc. or CMS is suing the Mayor’s Office of Saipan for a total of $36,126.25 in unpaid quarry fees, according to a complaint filed in Superior Court.
Represented by attorney Robert T. Torres, CMS is also seeking judgment to cover its legal costs associated with the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, from Feb. 1 to Sept. 11, 2023, the Mayor’s Office of Saipan obtained various materials from the CMS Kannat Tabla quarry. The specific materials obtained were listed as “aggregates-3/8” material and “base course.”
CMS charges $32.50 per cubic yard of aggregates-3/8 material. It has two prices for base course: $30.50 per cubic yard of base course without delivery, and $34.50 per cubic yard if CMS delivers the material to a job site.
The complaint states that the Mayor’s Office of Saipan obtained 7.5 cubic yards of aggregates-3/8 material and 1,310 cubic yards of base course.
CMS said when it was providing quarry materials to the mayor’s office, it likewise provided monthly invoices, which state that “the customer agrees to pay the invoice to CMS, with each overdue invoice charged at 1.5% per month.” The invoices also stated that the customer is responsible for attorney and collection fees in case of default.
CMS said despite the invoices, the Mayor’s Office of Saipan has “failed to pay and continues to fail or refuses to pay CMS each monthly invoice.”
CMS said it “applied a 120 cubic yards credit to the total base course material obtained by the Saipan municipality.”
Under its temporary occupancy agreement with the Department of Public Lands, CMS is obligated to provide 100 cubic yards of base course to government agencies for the “public benefit.” In the case of the Mayor’s Office of Saipan, the quarry materials are intended to repair roads.
In its complaint, CMS stated that the mayor’s office obtained 1,310 cubic yards of base course at $30.50 per cubic yard.
For the past few weeks now, the Mayor’s Office of Saipan has been feuding with the Department of Public Lands over the issue of “public benefit” access to quarry material.
On Friday, Mayor RB Camacho told Variety that based on his reading of the temporary occupancy agreement between CMS and DPL, he does not believe that the mayor’s office should be limited to only 100 cubic yards of material per quarry per year.
He said the agreement does not actually limit the amount of material taken out of the quarry, and that the 100 cubic yards is a figure determined solely by DPL. “Follow the statute,” Camacho said.
He previously said that the amount of cubic yards of quarry material allotted to the Mayor’s Office of Saipan was insufficient for the needs of the island.
DPL Secretary Teresita Santos, for her part, told Mayor Camacho that it was former DPL Secretary Marianne Teregeyo who limited the amount of quarry material the mayor’s office was allowed to take with no charge.
“[Teregeyo] approved up to a volume of 100 cubic yards, on the condition that the Office of the Mayor of Saipan would be responsible for any and all cost of heavy equipment rentals for the extraction, loading, and delivery on the quarry site associated with its projects,” Santos said.
She added that if the mayor’s office is given unlimited access to quarry material, it could be detrimental to the Marianas Public Land Trust because the department would have less revenue to remit to MPLT.
Santos declined to comment when asked about CMS’s lawsuit.
