Judge grants motion to add Yuma County to lawsuit against Airport Authority

Judge John Nelson Monday granted a motion to amend a complaint against the Yuma County Airport Authority to add Yuma County as a defendant. The county was expected to be served the same day.

The amended motion granted by Nelson also drops several claims in the complaint filed by DBT Yuma LLC against the Airport Authority. This will focus DBT’s lawsuit on the main issue of alleged breach of a lease by the Airport Authority, states DBT’s motion.

The lawsuit was brought in October 2010 against the Airport Authority by DBT Yuma. It had languished for some time when attorney Daryl Williams became the counsel for DBT Yuma and its managing member, Timothy Berger.

DBT Yuma had been doing business as Lux Air, a fixed-base operator at the airport. In October 2009, the Airport Authority had Lux Air evicted from the airport and seized its property because the FBO was behind on its rent by $50,000.

According to DBT’s lawsuit, however, Lux was always in arrears, “and the Airport Authority always acquiesced to these late payments.”

In the lawsuit, DBT is asking for $9.5 million in lost assets plus compensation for damages the company suffered through the forfeiture of its 30-year lease.

During Monday’s status conference for the case, Nelson also set July 25 as the deadline for Yuma County to file its response to being added to the lawsuit. The county is expected to file a motion to dismiss.

DBT’s motion to amend states that the plaintiff is seeking to include Yuma County to the lawsuit as the landlord for the property that is leased to the Airport Authority to operate Yuma County International Airport.

In addition, Nelson set a hearing for Aug. 21 for oral arguments on all the motions for summary judgment and the county’s motion to dismiss.

In other action in the case, the Airport Authority has filed a counterclaim against DBT Yuma in which it alleges it “had a valid and lawful right to evict Lux Air entities and seize their property” pursuit to state law. The counterclaim also states that the plaintiffs’s alleged loss was related to the “plaintiffs’ own actions, inactions, failures, misconduct, bad faith, negligence, assumption of risk and/or contributory negligence.”

The counterclaim seeks a judgment against Lux Air for costs incurred, loss of rent and damages suffered, including the FBO’s failure to honor its agreement to construct a new $2.5 million general aviation terminal.

Joyce Lobeck can be reached at [email protected] or 539-6853. Find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YSJoyceLobeck or on Twitter at @YSJoyceLobeck.