A trial in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by the Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 school district over problems with the heating and cooling systems at three elementary schools has ended in a hung jury. Now, the school board will have to decide whether to seek a retrial.
In June of 2025, the district sued Matthews Electric of Southwest Colorado after problems developed with HVAC systems the company installed at Kemper, Mesa, and Lewis-Arriola.
The complaint alleges that the district hired Matthews to install the systems and work was completed in 2021, but in 2023, the HVAC systems at all three schools began leaking.
“… starting in the summer of 2023, the HVAC systems installed at all three Elementary Schools began leaking Freon (refrigerant liquid) and water from compromised and improperly installed drainage lines,” the complaint states.
“Additionally, the HVAC systems all suffer from faulty piping, wiring, damaged and uninsulated refrigerant lines, defective subsystems, electrical and physical damage, and numerous other deficiencies.
“These defects, which have (and continue to) cause personal and real property damage, remain extremely disruptive to employees and children enrolled at the elementary schools, persist and have worsened over time, and have greatly diminished the value and life expectancy of the HVAC systems.”
The district says Matthews failed to remedy the issues.
“M-CSD provided Defendant numerous notices of these issues, as well as opportunities for Defendant to fix and otherwise address the problems suffered at the Elementary Schools,” the complaint states. “Despite this, Defendant has yet to take any meaningful remedial action. Defendant’s substantial inaction and failure to remedy these issues has forced M-CSD to expend significant out-of-pocket costs to temporarily repair the HVAC systems.”
Bishop Brothers Climate Control, a subcontractor for the work, later became a defendant as well in the case.
In their filings, the defendants say the school district approved the design for the work, didn’t hire a construction manager to oversee the installation, and designated where some elements of the systems – such as HVAC units on the roof – had to be placed.
They say district officials approved the work after it was done and gave no indication of any problems.
Defendants also say they weren’t involved in the work when Mesa later replaced its aging roof.
“With Mesa, subsequent roof work required the HVAC units to be lifted and moved, and that work was performed by others, not Matthews or Bishop,” the defendants say in a response filed on Sept. 21 of this year.
Likewise, when HVAC units at Lewis had to be replaced after a hailstorm, the defendants weren’t involved, according to the response.
“Matthews and Bishop did not perform the replacement work at Lewis,” the response says.
Attorneys for Matthews filed for a change of venue, saying in their motion, “Cortez is a very small town, and the media attention has been problematic for the Defendants. They have lost a job bid, and are being constantly questioned in the streets, in their places of business, and on Facebook regarding this case.”
The first change-of-venue motion was denied, but a second one was approved.
The case went to trial on Oct. 26 in Denver District Court.
Interim superintendent Drew Pearson told KSJD in an email that the judge had declared a mistrial because of a hung jury.
Problems with the heating and cooling systems left school officials struggling to keep students from sweltering in the late-summer heat.
