The Grantsville vs. Tooele lawsuit is over -- for now.

On Wednesday, 3rd District Court Judge Mark Kouris heard oral arguments in the long-running legal battle over the 1999 sale of portions of Utah Industrial Depot (including the Detroit Diesel building). Grantsville and Stockton filed the breach-of-contract lawsuit in 2001, claiming the Redevelopment Agency of Tooele (RDA) did not meet the neighboring cities' expectations by creating a broad base of industrial jobs to replace the 1,900 jobs lost when the Tooele Army Depot was realigned and 221 buildings on the base were closed.

Tooele annexed the 1,700-acre property from the U.S. Department of Defense under federal base closure guidelines. However, economic development in the area is now regulated by Utah's state redevelopment law.

Tooele, however, contends the original terms of the sale allowed it to annex the UID and make it a redevelopment district so long as Tooele would invest in improving the area.

So far, more than 50 tenants, including the Tooele County School District, have moved into the UID, creating hundreds of jobs.

But part of Grantsville's complaint is there haven't been enough companies that have moved to the UID, and that the money earmarked for economic development has been spent frivolously by Tooele.

Saying Tooele city officials were "Willy, nilly spending money like a drunken sailor," Attorney Scott Lilja from the Salt Lake City-based law firm of Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy asked the court to find Tooele in breach of the original contract.

Lilja's complaint focused on the ambiguity of the contract, which he said failed to accommodate the possibility that there would be proceeds from the UID sale. Another complaint focused on the fact that Tooele did not share the proceeds with Grantsville and Stockton.

So far, Tooele has used interest from the $15.7 million proceeds for economic redevelopment, including construction of a new city hall, library, swimming pool and golf course clubhouse.

Kouris asked Lilja if there had been something wrong with the land or if a tenant Tooele had brought in went bankrupt, would the other cities have 'stepped up to the plate' and bailed out Tooele?

Lilja said no, they wouldn't.

Council for Tooele City, Gainer Waldbillig, of Clyde Snow Sessions & Swenson in Salt Lake City, called the lawsuit 'Incredible!'"

"Economic development goes on a long time," Waldbillig said, adding that if Tooele divided the "bounty" -- meaning the $15.7 million -- there would be no money left for continued economic development He said Tooele predicts there won't be anything left of the money in a few years due to the cost of developing and maintaining the UID property.

"The pirates of Grantsville came across the trail when they saw a pot of gold and said 'We want it'," Waldbillig said. "If there weren't any proceeds, the pirate ship would have never left port."

The lawsuit has been a massive drain on taxpayer dollars: Grantsville City and Stockton had spent more than $400,000 to sue Tooele City as of March 2007. Tooele has spent more than $1.2 million on its defense, including filing a countersuit, according to Tooele City Finance Director Glenn Caldwell.

After listening to both sides of the argument, Kouris decided to cancel the scheduled March 2008 jury trial, saying that he stood by his Oct. 17 ruling that there was not enough evidence of breach of contract to go forward. Kouris granted yesterday's hearing to listen to further evidence from Grantsville, but decided the evidence presented was still was not enough to keep the trial date.

After the hearing, Tooele City Mayor Patrick Dunlavy said, "It's a great day for the good people of Grantsville and Tooele. The money that was being spent [on the lawsuit] can now go to other items."

Lilja indicated that Grantsville would appeal the decision.

Mayor Byron Anderson said, "It's not over."

Anderson said he plans to ask the Grantsville City Council to hold a closed-session meeting next month to determine how to proceed.