APPLETON – An Outagamie County decide faulted the perform of previous Greenville supervisor Mike Woods on Thursday right after Woods agreed to a mediated settlement of a 2018 lawsuit and then refused to indicator it, rendering the offer unenforceable.
“The court docket particularly finds that at least flowing from the very last mediation, that there is grounds to locate lousy faith by the defendant (Woods),” Judge Vince Biskupic said.
“The sanction the courtroom would impose is undecided at this place.”
Biskupic requested that Greenville, the plaintiff, doc how substantially revenue it expended on mediation and drafting of the settlement agreement and report it to the court for consideration.
Woods declined to comment after Biskupic’s ruling.
Greenville sued Woods and co-defendant Robert J. Immel Excavating Inc. to recover $434,000 that it put in to have out the state-ordered restoration of an illegally dredging and rerouted navigable stream on land that Woods rented for crop farming.
Greenville actually expended in surplus of $517,000 on the restoration, but some of the prices were being incurred after the lawsuit was submitted.
In addition, Greenville, Woods and Immel paid $90,000, split evenly, in point out penalties, bringing the whole price tag for the purpose of the lawsuit to $524,000.
Immel attained a settlement with Greenville in 2019, agreeing to pay out the city $56,800. With its $30,000 share of the penalties, Immel’s duty was $86,800, or 17{a73b23072a465f6dd23983c09830ffe2a8245d9af5d9bd9adefc850bb6dffe13} of the total.
Greenville was a city at the time but given that has integrated as a village.
The situation against Woods is scheduled for a weeklong jury trial starting up March 21. It in the beginning was established for demo in December 2019 but has been postponed 6 times — two times at the ask for of Woods and 4 occasions because of to COVID-19.
The events satisfied for mediation in July and agreed to settlement conditions in which Woods would pay back Greenville $74,800 and Greenville would dismiss its claims towards Woods and rescind its 2017 censure of him for breach of ethics. With his $30,000 share of the penalties, Woods’ responsibility would have been $104,800, or 20{a73b23072a465f6dd23983c09830ffe2a8245d9af5d9bd9adefc850bb6dffe13} of the whole.
When the settlement document attained Woods for signing, nonetheless, he no lengthier agreed with the phrases.
“Woods in the long run reconsidered and now believes the financial portion of the settlement is far too significant,” his legal professional, Steven Frassetto, claimed in a court docket doc.
Richard Carlson, an legal professional for Greenville, requested the courtroom situation a summary judgment towards Woods for $74,800, furthermore the fees of mediation.
While Biskupic is contemplating the mediation prices, he denied Carlson’s movement for summary judgment from Woods, noting there are materials facts in dispute to be resolved at demo.
The unpermitted dredging was started in December 2016 and was uncovered in an April 7, 2017, report by United states of america Currently Community-Wisconsin. State and county regulators said the dredging greatly altered the nature of the stream and destroyed a karst feature.
The Wisconsin Office of Justice named Greenville, Woods and Immel as the get-togethers accountable for the hurt. It requested the restoration and imposed the $90,000 in penalties for violating state waterway and wetland rules.
Below force from regulators, Greenville took the guide in restoring the stream, but every single party reserved the suitable to look for reimbursement from the others for all or part of the charges.
Carlson alleged in a court docket document that Woods sought to have the city or town sanitary district “spend to repair the sediment/drainage issue on the land that he farmed.”
Woods was a town supervisor and sanitary district commissioner at the time. Immel carried out the dredging beneath a contract signed by Woods and Dan Klansky, then Greenville’s sanitary district superintendent.
Woods contends Greenville officials have designed him the scapegoat for their faults. He maintains that the dredging was carried out by the Greenville sanitary district to boost the drainage alongside a sanitary sewer interceptor and was permitted by Dave Tebo, the city administrator at the time.
The town paid out the bill for the dredging.
Make contact with Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.
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