ROCK SPRINGS –– Civil lawsuits involving the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport’s commercial terminal renovation project will be dismissed following a settlement reached between the parties.
A notice of settlement was filed Dec. 30, 2024, stating the board and Sletten Construction had resolved all the claims in the litigation. A proposed order for dismissal was filed in the District Court of the Third Judicial District in Green River Monday, along with a stipulated motion to dismiss with prejudice citing all of the claims were “fully and finally settled upon their merits by agreement between the parties.”
The airport’s board of trustees filed two lawsuits against Sletten Construction of Wyoming out of Cody, which was the original contractor for the commercial terminal project. The dismissal also covers a countersuit filed by Sletten against the airport board, as well as a complaint involving Sletten as a third-party plaintiff against five contractors listed as third-party defendants. Each party has agreed to pay for their own court costs and fees.
“The airport board is thankful to put this situation behind us so that we can get back to focusing on the future of the airport and how we can continue supporting our great community,” Airport Director Devon Brubaker said. “It has always been the board’s commitment to be good stewards of the public dollars entrusted in us. We believe we maintained our commitment through our actions. We are focused on delivering, in partnership with a great construction partner, an exceptional terminal facility later this year that will provide decades of connectivity and economic value to our community.”
The original lawsuits against Sletten alleged the company had attempted to extort more than $7 million from the airport board to finish work on the commercial terminal. The terminal lawsuit alleged Sletten and the board entered into a construction manager at risk agreement, which dictated that Sletten would be responsible to complete the project at or below a guaranteed maximum price of $15,237,314. That price was submitted in April 2021, with the agreement stipulating Sletten would assume all risk of the cost exceeding that price, though the price could increase or decrease through procedures outlined in the contract.
The project was originally supposed to be completed by December 2022 or January 2023, but the project had fallen behind schedule when Sletten provided an amended guaranteed maximum price of $22,339,261 during September 2022. The board rejected the amendment. Sletten also submitted more than $4 million in change orders, with some of those change orders being approved and others denied.
A second lawsuit between the two involved a snow removal equipment project with similar claims made by the board. The project was originally estimated to cost $3.9 million, with Sletten and the board entering into a construction manager at risk agreement with a guaranteed maximum price of $3,870,545 in August 2020. Additional time was granted, with the deadline extended from Oct. 29, 2021 to Nov. 26, 2021. The board claimed the contract called for liquidated damages of $2,500 per day for each day the project went beyond its completion date. The initial complaint alleged Sletten revised the guaranteed maximum price to $4,751,021 after it was informed the board would pursue the liquidated damages.
