In a letter to Princeton officials this week, AvalonBay senior vice president Ron Ladell accused the town of failing to provide required information that would help settle a dispute over payments to a consultant overseeing construction of Avalon Princeton, the residential complex on Witherspoon Street. Because the documentation has not been received, Mr. Ladell wrote, he plans to request a formal hearing with the Mercer County Construction Board of Appeals (CBOA).

But the town still hopes to settle the issue and has been working “methodically and carefully” to look into the matter, said Trishka W. Cecil, Princeton’s municipal attorney. “We’ve taken the concerns seriously and have been going over these invoices to see if there is any basis for what he’s complaining about. We’ve been working with him, albeit not at the pace that he would like.”

The letter dated February 27, 2017 was sent to Ms. Cecil and Princeton’s administrator Marc Dashield. “Unfortunately, in light of the fact that nothing promised from our January 17, 2017 meeting has even been provided to me and no one has reached out to me to resolve this matter, it now seems clear that additional taxpayer funds will be wasted in defense of the indefensible,” Mr. Ladell wrote. “I will advise the CBOA that we have been unable to resolve the matter and seek to schedule a hearing.”

In dispute is approximately $100,000 that went to the Whitman firm during construction, which is still underway though the complex is open and has occupants. Mr. Ladell said in a letter from last December that AvalonBay was never billed properly, and that the escrow account should be replenished. AvalonBay filed an appeal challenging some of Whitman’s charges.

In an effort to settle the matter, the company met with members of Princeton Council and staff on January 17. “At that meeting, you admitted that Princeton has violated provisions of the Municipal Land Use Law and that there were numerous charges billed to us by Whitman that were inappropriate,” Mr. Ladell’s letter reads. “At the meeting, we mutually agreed to each perform certain tasks with the hope of resolving this matter and avoiding a costly hearing at the CBOA.”

While AvalonBay has fulfilled its part of the deal, Princeton has not, he continues. But Ms. Cecil said the town has every intention of following through in order to avoid a formal hearing. It is just taking longer than Mr. Ladell would like.

“We’ve met a couple of times, and Council would like to see this get resolved without the lengthy appeal process,” she said. “We’ve been going back through these invoices very carefully and methodically to see if there is any basis for what he is complaining about. We think the work was legitimate. We’re comfortable with what he was charged.”

Ms. Cecil said the town has authorized making an offer to AvalonBay in an effort to resolve the issue. “I don’t know if it will be satisfactory to them. if not, there is a process they can pursue,” she said. “We think the charges were legitimate under the Municipal Land Use Law. If the expectation is that AvalonBay won’t have to pay anything for any of the inspection work, that is unrealistic and unreasonable. We’re trying to be very careful and detailed and methodical. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Ladell felt this was the course of action he had to take. We still want to work with him and try to find a reasonable solution.”