Bridge sale and demolition dispute set for 22 February hearing
A hearing pertaining to summary judgment over the Bellaire Bridge dispute will take place today in Kootenai County, Idaho, according to Lee Chaklos of Delta Demolition and KDC Investments. KDC and AED both claim ownership of the Bellaire Bridge. A full trial in the dispute has been set for 22 February.
KDC previously sought an injunction from the court that would have permitted the firm to begin work to take down the span while court action continued. That injunction was denied by a Dec. 15 court ruling that there are too many “unresolved issues” in the case.
The court order notes that the federal district court in Ohio on Dec. 23, 2009 ordered the bridge to be demolished by no later than Dec. 21, 2011. At the time of that order, the bridge was owned by Bellaire businessman Roger Barack. Barack sold the bridge to AED in May 2010 for $1.
Two separate agreements next were discussed by AED and KDC in the following days.
The first was a “purchase agreement,” in which KDC agreed to purchase the bridge from AED for $25,000. The agreement was signed May 20, 2010, and KDC assumed responsibility for “proper demolition and removal (of the bridge) on or before June 1, 2011.”
The second was a “demolition agreement” executed on June 1, 2010, in which KDC agreed to hire AED to blast the bridge once preliminary demolition was complete. This demolition agreement lacked a signature on its first page from KDC, according to the order.
KDC since has opted to not use AED for the Bellaire Bridge project, prompting AED to seek court action. KDC ignores a bigger legal question, according to the order.
“If AED is administratively dissolved prior to entering into the purchase agreement – and a dissolved corporation cannot transact business other than to wind up its affairs – then how could AED have entered in to the sale agreement with KDC?” the court order asked.
Calls to AED at the phone number listed on its website receive a recorded message saying the number “has been disabled.”
Chaklos pointed out other remarks in the order noting that AED did not return to KDC the $25,000 the firm paid to AED for the bridge, and unless that happened KDC owns the bridge.
AED owner Eric Kelley and his attorney “can’t get the bridge back,” Chaklos said. “We tendered the money. It is ours. He did not offer to buy it back.”
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