Recall that five lawsuits were filed against Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District because Green Mountain terminated Big Sky’s IGA which established Big Sky as the new “master meter” sanitation district for all of Rooney Valley.
Big Sky Special District
CDN – the three investors from Canada who purchased the land run by the Big Sky Special District and have a developer buyer waiting in the wings
Three Dinos (which their attorneys for some reason insist on pronouncing “Deeenos”)
Stream Realty which has a contract from the Three Dinos to build warehouses at Dinosaur (not “Deeenosaur”) Ridge
And not to be left out – Cardel.
Now, the Court was only aware of three cases. For some reason all the developers wanted separate lawsuits with multiple expenses and multiple filings – all over the Big Sky IGA. And they did not tell the Judge about the other cases.
Green Mountain did tell the Court about all the cases and the Court wanted to get all the developers together. So they were all asked to appear at the hearing. Only one didn’t – Cardel.
The first issue was consolidating all the cases. There is a clear rule that Courts will follow – to avoid duplicity in work and duplicity in decisions in multiple cases arising out of the same issue – in this case the Big Sky IGA. Consolidation.
At least two of the attorneys said they were against consolidation – the attorneys for CDN and Big Sky. Keep in mind CDN and Big Sky are the same. They are duplicating their efforts so it appears they want Green Mountain (and the Courts) to also duplicate their efforts.
The Court asked all the parties to let her know in writing by September 11 as to whether or not they opposed consolidation. The parties may file a response on October 2 and a reply on October 16.
Green Mountain stated that it will file motions to dismiss in the cases which are set for responsive pleadings on September 4 (Stream Realty and CDN) and on September 11 (Three Dinos and Cardel).
Stream Realty, CDN, Three Dinos and Cardel will file responses and Green Mountain will file a reply according to the time limits in the rules.
Big Sky stated that it will file a motion for partial summary judgment which the Court asked be filed by September 11.
Green Mountain stated that it will file a comprehensive motion for summary judgment which the Court also scheduled for September 11.
The Court scheduled the next status conference for October 29 at 10:00 am.
The preliminary issues will be raised in these motions. A ruling from the Court on some or all of the motions could be made as soon as October 29.
I’ll report as the motions and responses are filed and make copies available on the blog.
We may soon begin to have answers about who will define public policy for the delivery of sewer service to Rooney Valley – a board of citizens elected by actual residents of a sanitation district or a single individual hired by a group of investors to prepare land parcels for development and quickly sell them off for a profit.
Oh – and don’t forget we have an election coming up and Adam Paul, candidate for Mayor, really likes the idea of Big Sky controlling the delivery of sewer service to all of Rooney Valley. In fact, he was on the Green Mountain Board when this idea got started of Green Mountain providing sewer through IGA’s (ie agreement for Solterra which expires in 2023) instead of public applications, public hearings and public feasibility studies associated with incorporating (“including”) new territory into Green Mountain’s territory.
Ask him. He is very proud of his work on the Green Mountain Board and very critical of the new members of the Board who dared to ask questions about the Big Sky IGA.
If Green Mountain is to provide sewer to residents who live outside its district, there is a process to expand its boundary to include new territory. But it involves public applications, public hearings, public vetting of the technical feasibility and a public vote. Not an election night deal signed by board members as they are being voted out of office.
So if you support Big Sky being the new “master meter” for Rooney Valley, vote for Adam Paul. Depending on how the court cases are resolved, the new Mayor may still influence the ultimate result. It matters.
John Henderson