A developer is taking the City of Albert Lea to court over a stalled agreement to create an I-35 industrial park, saying he was not compensated as promised.

Sunday, August 19, 2001

A developer is taking the City of Albert Lea to court over a stalled agreement to create an I-35 industrial park, saying he was not compensated as promised.

Darv Habben and the Albert Lea Port Authority signed a development agreement in December 1999, stipulating that Habben would add roads, curbing, sewers and other improvements to a 33-acre parcel of property which was then outside city limits. The goal was to develop the land into an industrial park.

The city was to pay Habben $797,000 during the construction, annex the land, purchase it from Habben and assess the value of the improvements onto the land. It would sell parcels of the land to industrial companies to recoup its financing costs.

The dispute arises from a portion of the improvements Habben says the city was supposed to pay him for, but which City Manager Paul Sparks, agent of the Port Authority, says were never part of the plan.

Habben asked the city to assess land adjacent to Ross Drive and Crossroads Boulevard – land not included in the city’s 33-acre purchase – to pay for road improvements and utility extensions there. Sparks has refused to allow the assessments, saying the work on Ross and Crossroads was not part of the agreement.

While those improvements were not part of the development agreement signed in 1999, Habben said Sparks told him they did not have to be part of the written agreement but that they should be done.

The suit alleges that Sparks told Habben to seek bids for construction without going through public bidding procedures because it would be cheaper and faster that way, an allegation Sparks denies in the Port Authority’s written response to the charges.

Habben’s suit seeks $350,000. The Port Authority, City of Albert Lea and Paul Sparks are named as defendants.

The city countered Habben’s accusations with a countersuit for $50,000, saying the work was not completed by the Nov. 1, 2000 date agreed upon in the development agreement. Habben said Friday that the improvements ran late only because cold weather last fall held up the work and because his contractor was busy with other projects. He said the city’s engineering department told him with weather conditions the way they were, it would be best to wait until spring to finish the road work.

The developer said he did not want to resort to suing the the city.

&uot;We have tried to resolve this problem, and I didn’t want to bring a lawsuit against the city,&uot; Habben said. &uot;Frankly, I could have done it in January if that were the case.&uot; Habben filed the suit in late May.

&uot;There’s nothing a guy hates more than to sue the city he lives in and works in and loves,&uot; he said.

After a months-long stalemate, Habben said it became clear the city would not give in.

&uot;Mr. Sparks just could not work with us to resolve the dispute,&uot; he said.

Mayor Bob Haukoos said he is hoping the suit does not have to go to court.

&uot;I hope we can get things settled so we can get some industry out there,&uot; he said. &uot;It’s an ideal spot for industry.&uot; Sparks was out of town Friday for personal reasons and could not be reached for comment on the suit.

If the case goes to court, it won’t be before a Freeborn County judge. Both county judges have been removed from the case; Habben’s attorneys asked that Judge John Chesterman be removed, and Judge James Broberg removed himself because of personal conflicts of interest involving the case.

A court date has not been set.