An offer was made to the city of McCall in September 2003 to settle the J-Ditch lawsuit for $500,000, court documents said.
City Manager Lindley Kirkpatrick alluded to this offer during a town-hall meeting at The Hunt Lodge attended by more than 200 people Monday.
"Yes, there were offers to settle and there were offers to settle for a heck of a lot less than what the jury judgment came back," Kirkpatrick said.
Ron Blewett, attorney for Employers Insurance of Wausau, confirmed the offer was made in a telephone interview Friday. The case went to trial after the parties could not agree.
In May2004, a jury awarded St. Clair Contractors and Employers Insurance of Wausau $5 million in damages in a dispute over construction of the city's J Ditch sewage storage pond.
Attorney s' fees and interest have swelled that amount to $6.5 million. That amount was updated on Monday by :Mayor Bill Robertson from the previous total of $6.2million due to added interest.
Blewett also said that he even offered to broker a settlement in the spring of 2005, a year after the judgment of about $5 million was entered by a jury in U.S. District Court in Boise.
His offer included a possible lesser amount than the nearly $5 million judgment, but was between $4.5 million and $5 million, and would have included a long-term payment plan.
"I proposed to broker a settlement in the spring of 2005," Blewett said. "I went down to McCall... suggested that to (McCall contract attorneys) Kim Trout and David Krueck and never heard a word."
Marilyn Arp, who was on 'the council at the time of the settlement offer, defended the council's decision to move forward to a trial.
"I think it was turned down because the city really felt there was a breach of contract," Arp said Wednesday.
