Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
DAVENPORT—A defendant’s answer, affirmative defenses and counterclaims filed in Lincoln County Superior Court Wednesday, Aug. 10 by the city denied most claims levied against the city and airport in a lawsuit filed in July by Wilbur-based Greg’s Crop-Care Company while launching counterclaims asking the court to order the removal of the company from the city airport.
The 21-page filing begins by responding to the accusations brought by the company and its owner, Kevin Leyva. The city denied that the airport ever entered a lease, and that city are separate entities that can be sued, saying it was the city that leased with Greg’s Crop-Care.
The filing denied that the city is required to relocate Levya’s hangar or leased parcels and denied that the city refused to purchase the hangar.
Emails sent to Leyva in 2021 by city administrator Steve Goemmel used in the petitioner’s lawsuit were taken out of context, the response claims. It also denied implications that Goemmel acted in a capacity other than as a city employee, stating the airport isn’t a separate entity from the city.
The city’s counterclaims accuse Greg’s Crop-Care of violating the terms of the lease by allowing third parties to utilize the leased property for “extended periods of time.” The claims also say the company never reported to the city how much fuel it was delivering onto the airport and didn’t pay the fuel flow charge.
Levya refused to vacate the airport and remove his property after the lease terminated Dec. 31, 2021, which the city’s filing claims was an agreed-upon date of lease cancellation by both parties.
The hangar is in the airport’s Runway Protection Zone, which are supposed to “enhance the protection of people and property on the ground in the event an aircraft lands or crashes beyond the runway end,” the filing states.
The city’s filing claims Goemmel and Levya shook hands on a settlement agreement to resolve all lease issues on June 8 and agreed Goemmel would email Leyva the agreement in writing for signing. Levya then said Goemmel the agreement wasn’t in his best interest and hasn’t vacated the airport, the city accuses.
Greg’s Crop-Care breached an agreed contract, breached a settlement agreement and is unlawfully detaining city property, the city’s counterclaims allege.
The city asked for an award of damages and prejudgment, a judgment for damages against Greg’s Crop-Care, an award of attorney’s fees and a writ of restitution removing the company from the airport.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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