Legal fees continue to mount as eight-year-old case drags on
An eight-year-old lawsuit filed by the city of Grantsville against the city of Tooele over the sale of the Utah Industrial Depot may still take months to resolve after the Utah State Supreme Court returned the case to the state Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit continues to rack up expenses for taxpayers of both cities.
Tooele has spent $1.45 million defending itself from the 2001 breach-of-contract lawsuit, in which Stockton City was also a plaintiff, according to Glen Caldwell, director of finance for Tooele City. Grantsville has spent $947,000 in legal fees on the suit thus far as well, according to Jeremy Walker, finance director for Grantsville City. Stockton has not spent any money but has agreed to reimburse Grantsville out of the proceeds of the suit if they prevail, according to Grantsville Mayor Byron Anderson. The agreement was an informal arrangement between previous mayors, Anderson said. He is not certain how much Stockton would be willing to pay for legal fees in the event the courts rule in Tooele’s favor.
At stake is the $15 million that Tooele City received after they sold the 1,700-acre Utah Industrial Depot in 1999. Under federal base closure guidelines, Tooele City originally took ownership of the property and then annexed it into the city.
In the lawsuit, which was first filed in 3rd District Court, Grantsville and Stockton claim Tooele failed to create a broad base of industrial jobs to replace the 1,900 jobs lost in the county when the Tooele Army Depot was realigned. They also allege Tooele spent the proceeds from the sale of the UID only on projects in Tooele City, rather than on economic development.
Tooele claims it paid substantially for infrastructure upgrades at the UID, including roads, water, and sewer, as well as providing police and fire protection. Tooele also has spent money to attract businesses to the UID without help from Grantsville or Stockton. Currently the UID has 54 tenants that employ 1,200 workers, according to Tooele City economic development adviser Randy Sant.
In November 2007, 3rd District Court Judge Mark Kouris canceled a scheduled jury trial in the matter and dismissed the lawsuit, citing not enough evidence to prove breach of contract.
Grantsville City appealed the 3rd District Court’s decision to the Utah Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals referred the case to the Utah Supreme Court, which transferred the case back to the Court of Appeals. Under the Utah rules of appellate procedure the state Supreme court transferred the case without issuing an opinion on the merits of the case or giving the reasons for the transfer.
“Each side has filed a 50-page appellate brief with the court,” said Roger Baker, Tooele City Attorney. “Grantsville filed their brief on Sept. 22, 2008, and Tooele filed their brief Dec. 29, 2008.”
These briefs are very tedious and expensive to prepare, Baker said, because every fact mentioned in the brief must be cross referenced to the trial court record, which is 1,000 pages long.
Grantsville now has until Jan. 29 to prepare a response to Tooele’s brief. The Court of Appeals will then schedule an oral argument, or presentation, by both sides before a panel of three judges sometime in 2009. After the oral presentations the judges will deliberate and eventually render a decision.
“The Court of Appeals will not schedule a hearing until all the briefs are received by the court,” Baker said. “And they also can not give a specific time after the hearing when a decision will be given. We hope that it will all be settled some time this year.”
Both cities have hired law firms from Salt Lake City to represent them in the lawsuit. Grantsville is represented by Vancott, Bagley, Cornwall and McCathy. Tooele is represented by Dyer Waldbillig.
The firms are paid on an hourly basis for work performed.
“The Grantsville-Tooele lawsuit has been a tremendous source of frustration to me, the city council and our staff,” said Tooele City Mayor Patrick Dunlavy. “I was disappointed that Grantsville City chose to continue the suit, which has been a drain on the budget of both cities after the 3rd District Court dismissed the case.”
“I just hope that this lawsuit can come to a conclusion soon,” said Mayor Anderson.
Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com
Sounds to me like Grantsville City is chasing a lost cause. They continue to spends tax payers money, forcing Tooele to do so also. I took many law courses in my undergrad and have also payed close attention to this case, Grantsville City needs to back out now before they cost their citizens and Tooele's thousands of more dollars. In my opinion, they are chasing a case they will lose, especially on the merit that a justice court judge has already thrown out the case based on lack of evidence. I understand Mayor Anderson inherited this case, but if he was little smarter, he would have mad the right decision and dropped after it was thrown out...