The Utah Supreme Court will rule on an eight-year-old lawsuit between Grantsville and Tooele cities after all.

Grantsville City appealed the dismissal of the lawsuit by the 3rd District Court to the Utah Court of Appeals last year. The Court of Appeals referred the case to the Utah Supreme Court, which transferred it back to the Court of Appeals without giving any reason for the transfer last fall. Last week, however, the Supreme Court sent written notice to both parties that it would take up the case.

“The Supreme Court did not give any reason for why they decided to hear the case,” said Roger Baker, Tooele City attorney. “We just received a very short and simple written notice from the Supreme Court that said they would hear the case.”

The original breach-of-contract lawsuit was filed in 2001 by Grantsville and Stockton cities against Tooele City. The suit claimed Tooele violated agreements with the two cities over the transfer of the Utah Industrial Depot from the Army to Tooele City, and reneged on subsequent economic development promises.

The case was dismissed by 3rd District Court Judge Mark Kouris in 2007, who ruled there was not enough evidence to prove breach of contract. Grantsville appealed that decision — a process that will now end in the Supreme Court.

Both sides in the case have submitted written briefs. The Supreme Court will schedule an hearing for oral arguments and then may take up to a year to render a decision.

A date for the oral arguments has not been scheduled yet, according to Tooele City Mayor Patrick Dunlavy.

In the lawsuit, 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 claims it has spent money to attract businesses to the UID without help from Grantsville or Stockton.

As of January 2009, Tooele had spent $1.45 million on the lawsuit while Grantsville had spent $947,000.

“We just hope we can wrap up this lawsuit and put an end to the matter by the end of the year,” Dunlavy said. “Defending ourselves has been a drain on the city budget.”

Grantsville Mayor Byron Anderson declined to comment on the issue.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com