Developer Darv Habben has signed a settlement agreement with the City of Albert Lea, ending the need for legal action by the city to compel a land transfer agreed upon in September, attorneys for both sides said Wednesday.

Thursday, February 14, 2002

Developer Darv Habben has signed a settlement agreement with the City of Albert Lea, ending the need for legal action by the city to compel a land transfer agreed upon in September, attorneys for both sides said Wednesday.

Habben’s attorney faxed the signed agreement to the city’s lawyer Wednesday afternoon, ending a legal dispute that started in May 2000 when Habben sued the city over what he said was an industrial park development agreement gone bad.

The city will take ownership of the 33-acre industrial park near Highway 65 and Interstate 35, preserving the site’s viability as a possible location for a new Farmland plant. Habben’s attorney, Shane Anderson, said her office was working on the deed transfer Wednesday.

Anderson claimed that the city took too much time preparing documents, and that when documents were delivered, the agreement had changed from what the sides agreed upon during a mediation session in September. The city, however, says it did nothing wrong and was only filling in a portion of the agreement that was not specified by Habben during mediation.

The dispute stemmed from a portion of the improvements the city was to make on the land. As part of the agreement, the city was to finish some utility work on the property, then assess the cost back onto the land, where it would be paid by the site’s future occupant.

City Manager Paul Sparks said Habben, during the mediation in September, did not specify the manner in which he wanted the costs assessed to his land. So, when the city drafted the agreement, it proposed assessing the costs in its usual manner. Sparks said Habben then told the city he wanted it done differently.

Both sides say that Habben’s lawyers contacted the city three weeks ago to ask for changes in the agreement; the city refused, Sparks said. When Habben continued to refuse to sign the documents&160;- and later brought up other issues for which he wanted more money, Sparks said – the council decided to pursue legal action if necessary to compel Habben’s cooperation.

&uot;I understand that we had lived up to everything that was in the mediation agreement,&uot; said Albert Lea Mayor Bob Haukoos. &uot;(Habben) wanted some changes in there.&uot;

Habben is out of town and has said he will comment on the dispute early next week. His attorney, however, said Habben has been willing to cooperate but has been dismayed by what he saw as changes in the agreement made by the city.

The original argument started when Habben was developing the land as a city industrial park. Habben sued the city because he claimed he was not fully compensated for improvements to the property, which included road and utility construction.

The settlement reached in September said the city would complete all remaining public improvements on the 33-acre site. A document signed by Habben and Sparks in September says the cost would be assessed to Habben’s property &uot;in accordance with the plaintiff’s wishes at the time the final plat is recorded.&uot;

The agreement also included a six-month option for the city to purchase an additional 12.5 acres for $700,000. The city has not decided if it will exercise that option, Sparks said.

Sparks said the city was finally pushed to legal action because it was tired of waiting to have possession of the 33 acres.

&uot;We already paid $797,000 for this property,&uot; Spark said. &uot;We haven’t had use of that property for 18 months. We think it’s time we got what we paid for.&uot;

The city has offered to provide the site for Farmland in a land swap. The city would take over the plant’s old site and handle demolition and cleanup. Officials hope to use revenue generated by the new plant to pay for the cleanup of the old site.

Farmland has not announced whether it will rebuild in Albert Lea. The plant, which employed around 500, was destroyed by fire July 8, 2001.