After a nine-day trial, a McKean County jury deliberated just three hours before finding in favor of Cummins Construction over a contract dispute with Bradford Sanitary Authority.

According to the verdict, the jury ruled the authority breached the contract with Cummins by failing to pay for work on phase 2 of the wastewater treatment plant upgrades.

The jury awarded Cummins Construction $488,243.24, and said the authority had withheld the contract balance in “bad faith.”

The jury also ruled that Cummins has breached its contract with the authority for “substandard storm drain connection” between two places, and awarded the authority $4,945.

A chart on the verdict slip showed 14 areas of extra work, payment of which were contested, and ruled in favor of Cummins for all but one — topsoil.

On Friday, Rick Brocius, executive director of the Sanitary Authority, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Don Cummins, senior project manager with Cummins Construction, said the entire process was difficult, and added that the company had tried to settle it for three years.

“The suit was about that we weren’t paid for extra work we performed on the project,” Cummins said, “and we weren’t paid the contract balance on the project.

“We never wanted to go this route, but we were forced into it,” he added. “We had hired a lot of local people, over 40 people were on the project, plus local suppliers and subcontractors. We spent millions of dollars in the community.

“We were called irresponsible and unprofessional and it just wasn’t right,” Cummins said. “What (the authority) didn’t understand in three years, the jury understood in nine days. We are glad it’s over.

“We feel some vindication that we were right all along,” he added. “If you feel that you’ve been wronged, you have an opportunity through the courts to get relief and we did.”

The verdict was unanimous. The case was heard by Judge Christopher Hauser.