PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has released the terms of a proposed settlement agreement that would resolve a 2014 lawsuit and years of related litigation while creating a new West End park.
County commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to approve the $300,000 purchase of a waterfront parcel at 120 Salt Air St., in Clallam Bay — step 1 of a 15-part settlement with Scott and Elizabeth Lange.
Once the sale is final, the county will purchase two neighboring lots from the Langes for $210,000 cash, according to step 2 of the negotiated settlement.
The draft agreement is available on the county’s website, www.clallam.net. Click on “Board of Commissioners” and navigate to “Lange v Clallam County settlement agreement.”
The six-page, handwritten document is the result of mediation that occurred May 16.
It was negotiated to resolve Lange, et al. v Clallam County, a 2014 Public Records Act lawsuit filed in Kitsap County Superior Court against Clallam County, the Department of Community Development and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Hearing Tuesday
To fund the land acquisitions, commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on a $550,000 debatable budget emergency for next Tuesday. The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Room 160 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
The money would cover buying the land, closing costs and contingencies.
The $550,000 amount was identified to “ensure that the board had more than enough money to make good on the obligation under the settlement agreement,” Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols said Wednesday.
2-1 vote
Commissioners Mark Ozias and Bill Peach voted Tuesday to authorize the first land purchase, a one-third-acre property owned by David and Krisanne Cebelak.
Commissioner Mike Chapman voted no because of a lack of public process.
“At least wait a week,” Chapman said before the vote.
“Make the draft agreement public. Let the public look at it over a week,” he said.
“Have the public hearing next week and have the board vote at the same time.”
Ozias and Peach shared Chapman’s concerns — the settlement was first discussed in public Monday after months of closed-door executive sessions — but voted to execute the sale to meet a looming deadline.
Brian Wendt, civil deputy prosecuting attorney, told commissioners that the Langes would not extend a July 15 deadline for the closing of the sale of the Cebelak property.
Peach’s motion to purchase the land was contingent on the immediate posting of the terms of the settlement on the county website.
Cebelak property
Clallam County will remove two buildings and a bulkhead from the Cebelak property, according to the agreement.
In return, the Langes will release all claims against the county, including tort claims filed in 2009 and 2012, and dismiss a lawsuit against the Cebelaks.
Nichols said the settlement is unique because it results in a tangible public asset — a new park — while releasing the county from significant liability under the Public Records Act.
“Our [parks] master plan is peppered with areas that talk about land acquisitions, specifically saltwater or water-accessible properties,” county Parks, Fair and Facilities Director Joel Winborn told commissioners Monday.
Clallam County has been trying to acquire waterfront property in Clallam Bay for “many years,” Winborn added.
The history of the litigation dates back to land-use decisions that were made in the late 1990s, Wendt told commissioners.
Violations of the Public Records Act were alleged after a storm damaged a bulkhead and eroded surrounding property in Clallam Bay about 10 years ago, Wendt said.
Wendt said the recent mediation was “very constructive” and led to “creative solutions.”
“For the first time in my years of practice, or just studying public records jurisprudence, this is the first time that I’ve ever even heard of a positive tangible result potentially coming back to the county,” Wendt said of the park.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
