A lawsuit filed by Joe Ortiz of Callinectes Boatworks in Mathews against the Mathews Maritime Foundation was settled in Mathews County Circuit Court on Dec. 12.

The court found that the foundation was in default, since it neither filed an answer nor appeared in court, and that it had breached its $16,500 contract with Ortiz for restoration work on the historic fishing vessel Peggy.

According to court papers, the foundation is liable for all of Ortiz’s expenses, including the contract price, court costs, and 6 percent interest for eight months.

Ortiz filed the suit in January 2012, after a series of communications with the Maritime Foundation in 2011 concerning the contract.

According to an October 2011 Gazette-Journal article, Ortiz, a former board member of the organization for 10 years, had stepped down from his post in order to perform the restoration work without incurring a conflict of interest. He said then that his contract was for $55 an hour plus the cost of ma...