Alden-Thayer files lawsuit against city

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Oct 14, 1998

The Alden-Thayer Corp., former manager of the former Bluffs Golf and Country Club, has filed a lawsuit against the city of La Crosse for breach of contract and interference with business relations.

The suit was served on the city last Friday.

The city terminated its five-year lease with Alden-Thayer Corp. in November 1997, accusing the corporation of failing to pay its lease on time. The city has since negotiated a lease with Holtze and Associates to operate the facility, now known as Forest Hills. The city's lease with Alden-Thayer. began in 1994.

In the lawsuit, Alden-Thayer seeks more than $50,000 in damages on five counts, plus damages including $519,000 for rent payments the corporation paid the city and $300,000 in lost business revenue.

The suit does not contain a total amount of damages. In February, Alden-Thayer threatened to sue the city for $6.1 million.

The city is counter-suing Alden-Thayer for $100,000, according to a letter from City Attorney Pat Houlihan to Jeff George, a local attorney who will represent the city in its claim. The city's claim will be pursued through a state insurance pool for municipalities, said Mayor John Medinger.

"(The suit) is disappointing because we do not believe it has much merit, but it forces us to use our resources to fight it," Medinger said. "It takes a lot of time, and it will cost money to defend ourselves."

In his letter, Houlihan asked George to direct the concerns of people who had deposits with Alden-Thayer for future events at the Bluffs to Alden-Thayer.

Alden-Thayer's lawsuit accuses the city of not giving Alden-Thayer adequate notice of rent due on Sept. 17, 1997. The city introduced a resolution to terminate the lease, after accepting payment of the rent due and the penalty, the lawsuit says.

Due to a lease addendum setting payments in accord with the seasonal nature of the golf course business, the lawsuit says that Alden-Thayer's payments totaled $24,000 more than the rent set in the original lease.

Jeff Bagniefski, attorney for Alden-Thayer, was not available for comment Tuesday.