By Kathryn Heaberg
The Industrial Development Authority
(IDA) is having a hard time settling the sale of the Rockbridge Regional
Industrial Park to the City of Buena Vista because of the continuing
fear of legal problems.
The negotiating team for the IDA insisted that as part of the sale
contract, Buena Vista would agree to “indemnify and defend” the IDA,
Lexington, and Rockbridge County if any legal action is taken as a
result of the sale. This means that these three groups would not be
liable for any damages if legal action were taken.
The IDA held a meeting March 13 to attempt to finalize the contract, but
Brian Kearney, the lawyer representing Buena Vista, asked for more time
to research indemnification as well as other options and to discuss them with
the lawyers representing Lexington and Rockbridge County.
After Kearney has made a decision, representatives from Buena Vista and
the negotiating team will meet to prepare a final contract.
Representatives from both the IDA and Buena Vista agreed that about two
weeks was a reasonable amount of time for Kearney to do his exploration.
The new contract will then be given to the IDA, in hopes of approval.
At an IDA meeting back on March 6, Mayor Todd Jones of Buena Vista said
that Buena Vista’s charter prohibits them from “indemnifying anyone.”
Jones also said that Buena Vista felt uncomfortable entering into a
contract with an indemnification clause because the city would be on its
own to defend itself.
Wilburn Dibling Jr., the attorney representing the IDA, said that from
his perspective as an attorney who has represented local governments for
years, he guessed that Buena Vista would bring the indemnification up as
an issue.
The IDA’s concern harks back to the decision by the IDA not to sell 44
acres of the Rockbridge Regional Industrial Park to MeadWestvaco.
MeadWestvaco had plans to build a distribution center on this site, and
wrote a letter to the IDA threatening a lawsuit after the IDA’s
decision.
The letter was followed by Freedom of Information Act requests sent to
Buena Vista, Lexington, Rockbridge County, the IDA, and the Rockbridge
Partnership. The IDA has not heard anything from MeadWestvaco since
these FOIA requests.
Jones reiterated that the shared responsibility among the IDA,
Rockbridge County, Lexington, and Buena Vista strengthens the regional
relationship. He said that this regional arrangement is “in tattered
shape right now.”
Jan. 26, 2006
MeadWestvaco
may sue after dropped deal
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Editing supervisor: Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd