News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The jury found that Scott still owed Barclay for construction of the motel and recreational vehicle park, finished in 1994. The same jury decided that Barclay did not owe Scott anything for alleged problems with the project.
"We won our case. They (the jury) found we did not breach our contract," said Eldon Howard, owner of Barclay Contractors.
Scott acknowledged the outcome, saying "I lost. As I understand it, there will be a hearing on March 6. At that time the judge will sign a judgment and then I have 30 days to pay it."
According to court records, fees owed to Barclay, Sun Country Engineering and David C. Clemens General Contractors for work on the motel and RV park were in dispute.
Sun Country was owed about $41,000. Clemens was owed about $10,000 (of a fee of about $40,000.) Barclay claimed about $85,000 in unpaid bills.
The Mt. Shadow Motel and RV Park project cost more than $3 million, Scott told The Nugget. He said that soon after the motel and RV park opened in May, 1994, he began having trouble with "bells and buzzers going off" signaling problems with his septic system.
Soon after, Scott said he learned that six inches of top-soil had been removed from the park, resulting in the death of trees and that 16 recreational vehicle pads were higher than specified in the plans.
According others involved with the project, Scott was aware all along of the topsoil removal and, in a hurry to get the park open, authorized the changes. One contractor said that Scott must have known about the removal of 5,000 yards of topsoil, since the removal was a change designated by his engineer. Another pointed out that the dirt was moved more than once and Scott was involved in the project on a weekly basis.
Scott told The Nugget he had meetings with the engineers and contractors in September and November of 1994, trying to resolve his concerns. But he did not pay the outstanding bills, and told The Nugget that actually he never received a bill for the disputed charges from either Sun Country or from Barclay Contractors.
In March 1995, according to court records, Sun Country filed suit to collect.
In May, 1995, Scott countersued Sun Country for about $171,000, claiming that 16 recreational vehicle spaces were staked too high, the septic system was designed such that the sewage surged through the system, and 17 trees were killed during construction.
In July, according to Barclay's lawyer Martin Hanson, Scott "turned around and sued Barclay and Clemens for the same damages."
Prior to filing those lawsuits, Hanson said Scott told Barclay, owner Eldon Howard and Dave Clemens that he was doing so to gain an advantage in his lawsuit against Sun Country.
Scott denied this on the stand and to The Nugget. However, notes taken by David Clemens after a meeting with Scott and submitted to the jury indicated otherwise.
Scott said he filed the same claims against all three because he had failed to resolve the issues out of court and it was not his intention to get $171,000 from each of the defendants.
"Sun Country said `Barclay did it wrong.' Barclay said `Sun Country... staked it wrong.' Clemens said he didn't know who did it. So they each pointed their fingers at each other and they told me `you figure it out, and you solve it'," Scott said.
Scott tried to get the lawsuits consolidated, saying the issues were intertwined. Barclay attorney Hanson opposed this, holding that the three contracts were separate, the legal issues were different and consolidation "would result in delay, confusion and prejudice," according to court records.
This was a fatal blow, according to Scott, setting him up to fight three battles against his opponents.
Sun Country eventually settled with Scott in October, 1996, with Clemens settling about a month later.
The details of the Sun Country settlement were not available, but The Nugget was told that Sun Country's insurance company paid both Scott and Sun Country to resolve the dispute. Scott said he received $10,000 from Sun Country and did not pay the $40,000 Sun Country claimed they were owed.
Scott dropped his lawsuit against David Clemens in exchange for Clemens giving up claim to the final $10,000 he was owed by Scott and for Clemens' promise that he would not file a claim against Scott.
Clemens said he settled with Scott because his legal bills, for which he had no insurance, were becoming difficult to shoulder and greater than the amount he was owed.
If Barclay had lost, Clemens would have paid Scott an additional $5,000.
After those settlements, lawyer Hanson said that Scott was still asking Barclay for $171,000, while Barclay was demanding payment of their $85,000 bill.
Scott told The Nugget that of the $171,000, about $145,000 was needed to reconfigure 16 RV spaces to grade, about $20,000 to correct septic system flaws and about $5,100 to replace trees that were killed.
But the jury evidently agreed with Barclay that Scott really had no damages.
"If he had any problem, it was with a slightly under-designed septic system that is now working quite well after some minor changes," according to Hanson.
As to the RV spaces, Hanson said that occupancy records showed the ones in question were the most popular in the RV park, being the farthest away from the highway.
Hanson said that Barclay also asked the court for sanctions and attorney's fees.
Without such sanctions, said Hanson, Scott was likely to continue to "use the legal system to beat up on contractors."
Scott told The Nugget that despite being portrayed in court as a "wealthy developer from the Willamette Valley who goes around suing people so I don't have to pay my bills," he had never before sued anyone or been sued by anyone.
Judge Tiktin will hear arguments on the sanctions on March 6.
Reader Comments(0)