Sixth District Judge Eric Hylden took under advisement Friday a request that the Duluth school district be forced to void its contract with the company that designed and is carrying out its long-range facilities plan.
Hylden heard arguments in St. Louis County District Court on both sides of a lawsuit brought by the anti-red plan group Let Duluth Vote.
"I've got plenty of issues for me to work through here," Hylden said.
Most of the hearing was devoted to the central claim of the plaintiffs, that the contract between the school district and the consulting firm Johnson Controls be deemed void by the court. Johnson Controls is the firm that developed the red plan for the district and is now in charge of implementing it.
The plaintiffs allege the contract is void because the district didn't agree to a price on the work to be done with Johnson Controls before
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hiring the firm.
The district maintains that neither party could have known the price of implementation when Johnson Controls was first hired because the red plan hadn't yet been developed, and that the district reserved the right to walk away from the deal if a fair price could not be reached.
In addition, Hylden heard arguments on whether he should require the plaintiffs to pay for a surety bond that would cover any increases in the cost of the red plan caused by the lawsuit. The bond could cost millions of dollars, a fee extremely difficult for any of the defendants to pay.
Hylden is expected to issue a decision in the coming weeks on whether he can rule on the contract issue on its face or if a trial should be scheduled. He also is expected to reach a decision on the surety bond.
Both sides said the hearing went well.
"The court was obviously well-informed," said Craig Hunter, the attorney for Let Duluth Vote.
Sue Torgerson, the attorney for the defense, had a similar comment.
"I thought the judge asked all the right questions," she said.
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Another hearing is scheduled June 16 to address the school district's motion to dismiss the case and Let Duluth Vote's motion for summary judgment if Hylden does not rule before then.
