Lien filed against Marietta schools amidst payment dispute between contractors

Love County, Okla. (KXII) - According to Allied Services lawyer David Mordy, a $121,000 payment that was owed to Allied Services by Red Sky Constructors for their work in the completion of Marietta's new high school over the summer has not yet been paid. That led to Allied Services filing a lien against the school in October.

Mordy says filing the lien will help them investigate about an alleged $711,000 payment from the school to Red Sky Constructors, stating that they believe that payment may have been intended to be spent on paying the subcontractors for their services.

Marietta Superintendent Brandi Naylor shared in a statement with News 12 that all payments were paid to Red Sky Constructors for the completion of the project, and says that a lien cannot be filed against public property by a company per Oklahoma Statute:

"Marietta Public School has paid our construction management company, Red Sky Constructors, Inc., all payments due for the completed stages of the construction project. The dispute is between Red Sky and a subcontractor from which Red Sky is withholding payment. The subcontractor has recorded a notice of lien of which they are not entitled to do per state statute. Oklahoma courts have long held that public property cannot be encumbered by liens and no company can obtain a lien against the school district's property under OKLA Stat. tit. 42:141."

According to Mordy, attempts to mediate the issue as stated in their contract have hit a road block. He says Allied Services is working on submitting their case through binding arbitration with Red Sky Constructors to resolve the issue.

Currently, the Oklahoma City based company has at least three other lawsuits filed by other subcontractors that have not been paid for their work on the Marietta School Project, totaling over $155,000.