Victory of sorts for both sides in lawsuit

Talk about it

It was a victory of sorts for both sides in the latest twist in the tale of one of Afton’s lawsuits.

Friday, Oct. 24 saw both sides in the case of GJ&M Development against the city of Afton back in court.

A judgment that Afton should hand over a number of undisclosed documents to GJ&M was issued, although the city’s attorneys immediately appealed the decision, claiming that the documents were protected under attorney client privilege and data practice law.

A hearing Monday morning, Oct. 27, amended the decision, according to George Hoff, the attorney representing Afton, to enable the court to appoint a special master to determine which of the documents would be covered by privilege and which could be made public.

The documents in question are believed to be e-mails and exceed more than 500 in number.

Hoff declined to speculate on how quickly the court might move in appointing a master.

The GJ&M lawsuit against the city revolves around a $15 million planning proposal by GJ&M to build a 48-unit luxury condominium project on the St. Croix River in Afton, spanning three city blocks and including space for 12 retail businesses.

Gordy Jarvis, one of the partners of GJ&M, has previously said the city had “made efforts to block the project and … violated our rights as property owners.”

A moratorium was placed on buildings in the Old Village preventing Jarvis from receiving a building permit.

Jarvis could not be reached for comment Monday.

Tags: afton, lawsuit, gj, m, gordy, jarvis