Buehler decision may come in next 30 to 90 days
Rolla Daily News , Tuesday - January 24, 2006
By Janese Heavin, Editor
The Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District may issue a ruling in the Buehler Park suit in the next 30 to 90 days, according to Rolla city attorney John Beger.
The decision will determine whether the Citizens for the Preservation of Buehler Park has standing to fight the sale of the park. The appeal follows the circuit court decision that ruled the group lacks standing to challenge the city’s sale of the site.
Members of the citizens group argue that they do have standing because they are taxpayers and that the city has used taxpayer dollars to pursue the sale of Buehler Park. Such expenses include legal notices and requests for proposals from potential developers. Butz estimated that those costs equaled no more than $30 in postage and less than $300 in legal notification.
Bruce Morrison, attorney for the citizens group, said the circuit court’s decision was premature. He said the court issued the “no standing” ruling before the citizens group could get records showing that the city expended funds to pursue the sale of Buehler Park.
The city argues that postage and legal notices are normal operating expenses and do not give the citizens group standing to pursue litigation.
Tom Sager, a plaintiff in the suit and a candidate in the upcoming mayoral race, said it does not matter how little was spent on pursuing the sale of the park because he considers such expenditure illegal.
“I can’t justify spending a cent to sell Buehler Park when it’s clearly dedicated land and illegal to sell it,” Sager said.
He said the city forced the group to sue, therefore put the blame on the city for accumulating legal expenses. So far, the city has spent $4,367 in legal fees defending itself against the citizens group.
“We don’t want to go to court and we never have,” Sager said. “We would like a simple end to the plans to sell Buehler Park. We would be very happy if the city would give up its attempt to sell Buehler Park and save the taxpayers all the money they are spending in litigation right now.”
American Realty developer Kevin Guffey has a contract on the land with plans to use the property for restaurants. The contract expires March 8, however is automatically extended if litigation goes beyond that date.
Guffey is offering the city $1 million for the site. That money would go into a special park fund to be used solely for park improvements, Butz said. By ordinance, using money from that fund would require a two-thirds majority council vote.
If the Citizens for the Preservation of Buehler Park loses its appeal, the group will have to decide whether to pursue further legal action. Dr. Gerald Cohen, a spokesman for the group, said members would cross that bridge when they came to it.
Sager said the battle is a matter of the city violating public trust.
“The city is holding this land in trust for the people. It was dedicated to the public and the city is basically a trustee,” he said. “When a trustee violates the trust then you have no choice but to take them to court.”
Although this round of the legal battle revolves around the group’s right to pursue litigation, Morrison said the more pressing question is whether the city has a legal right to sell Buehler Park.
The group points to the 1958 warranty deed transferring the land from the Chamber of Commerce to the City of Rolla to be used solely as a park. The Chamber in 1997 quit claim on the property, removing the parkland provision.
Morrison argues that by dedicating the land, the Chamber gave rights of ownership not only to the city but also to the public. The Chamber may have given up its rights to the land via the quit claim deed, but that did not relinquish the public’s right to the land, Morrison said.
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