Port of C-W drops RiverWalk legal action
Officials had sought $607,852 in attorney's fees from company
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Port of Camas-Washougal announced Thursday that it has dropped a legal attempt to recover the fees it incurred defending itself against a $19.5 million lawsuit brought by RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC after the port dropped its proposed $350 million mixed-use development on the Columbia River.
Update
• Previously: A judge ruled in December that the Port of Camas-Washougal should be reimbursed by RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC for expenses incurred defending a $19.5 million lawsuit brought by the developer for canceling the project.
• What’s new: The Port of Camas-Washougal has dropped its legal attempt to recover the fees.
• What’s next: Port officials intend to move forward with the port’s five-, 10- and 20-year comprehensive plan, a discussion that will include planning for waterfront acreage.
After financial analysis of the Vancouver-based company, port officials determined RiverWalk doesn’t have enough assets to reimburse the port for $607,852 in attorney’s fees. The port spent the money on attorneys in 2009 after RiverWalk challenged the port’s decision to drop the project on Columbia Riverfront acreage partly owned by the port, said Dave Ripp, port executive director.
“I guess we’re done with RiverWalk. There’s really nothing else to do. We’re moving forward,” Ripp said.
He said the port paid the legal fees from its reserve account, which now has a balance of roughly $5.5 million.
Ripp said the lack of reimbursement for legal fees will not affect the port’s 2010 annual operating budget of $4.2 million.
Plans for the development fell apart in September 2008 after a state auditor’s report said port commissioners signed the RiverWalk agreement without holding enough public discussion.
RiverWalk then sued the port, asking for $19.5 million in damages for abandoning the joint contract. The port prevailed in that case, and Clark County Superior Court Judge John Nichols ruled that RiverWalk should reimburse the port for legal expenses.
The port’s budget is funded by property owners within the port district, who pay 36 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation annually, or $36 on a $100,000 home. Other funding sources are marina and airport user fees and leaseholder taxes.
“Our tax assessment is not going to be affected by this,” Ripp said.
RiverWalk LLC principals say they are not personally responsible for the port’s reimbursement, said John McKibbin of Vancouver, a partner in the LLC with Mark Benson of Camas.
“This is not a personal liability, its an LLC liability. They (the port) have known that from the beginning,” McKibbin said.
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