Opening statements start in Ivanpah suit

Stephen Curran

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | 11:16 a.m.

The latest chapter is set to begin this morning in a legal showdown between a firm whose lawyers claim the county owes it more than $700,000 for a study of the proposed airport in Ivanpah Valley.

Attorneys for Hamilton Nevada LLC were expected to appear before District Judge Mark Denton this morning, claiming the county took recommendations from the completed feasibility study of the proposed airport site but never paid the company.

The firm signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with the county in 1997. In it, the firm was to be granted the right to "design, build, operate and maintain the Ivanpah facility," the company's lawyers argued.

The now-disputed agreement was severed in 2001, a year before Hamilton managers believed it was to expire, when airport officials announced they would move forward with rival company Harrison Associates. The lawsuit claims that broke a contract the airport had with Hamilton.

By then, Hamilton officials had already begun studying whether the Ivanpah site 30 miles south of Las Vegas would be a good place for a second airport, they said.

"The services performed and energies and costs expended by (Hamilton Nevada) have greatly benefitted (Clark County)," the suit says.

The company in June 2002 sued the county for unjust enrichment, breach of contract, intentional and negligent misrepresentation.

Denton dismissed all but one claim -- that of unjust enrichment -- in October.

Elaine Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the county Aviation Department, would not comment on the litigation other than to say, "I believe the facts will speak for themselves."

Aviation officials, with the public backing of the Clark County Commission, have touted the more than 6,650-acre site between Jean and Primm as a key step in helping Southern Nevada keep pace with continued growth expected over the next 25 years.

County Aviation Director Randy Walker last week told the commission that McCarran is expected to cap at 53 million passengers within six years, making a second airport necessary.