MANSFIELD — A multi-pronged City of Mansfield lawsuit against the Lucas company that demolished the former YMCA has been reduced to a breach of contract dispute.
Visiting Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Collier on Tuesday dismissed several causes of action against Page Excavation, including the city’s attempt to claim fraud/misrepresentation by the company and also its attempt to seek individual damages from Jeff and Landa Page.
The three claims that remain unresolved revolve around the wording found in contract itself signed in September 2018 during the previous administration of Mayor Tim Theaker and then-Law Director John Spon.
In his 13-page ruling, Collier said the city’s complaint “is, at best, ambiguous as to what Page Excavating could and could not bury at the project site and what Page Excavating was not required to remove from the project site.”
The judge found issues with the contract itself.
(Below is a PDF of the 2018 contract between the City of Mansfield and Page Excavating for the demolition of the former Mansfield YMCA building at 455 Park Ave. West.)
“At least one portion of the contract provides that all demolished material needed to be removed from the project site, while another portion of the contract allowed Page Excavating to bury demolished materials,” Collier said.
He noted the city’s complaint alleges entire structures of the former building were undemolished and covered up, including entire locker rooms and portions of the basement.
“In that regard, both the meaning of the contract, and Page Excavating’s performance, are questions of fact that cannot be resolved at the pleading stage,” Collier said.
“Accordingly, the court finds that (the city) can prove a set of facts that would entitle it to relief for breach of contract and breach of warranty (against) Page Excavating,” the judge ruled.
The remaining claims are set for a jury trial on July 14, though Collier’s ruling granted attorneys for Page Excavating 14 days to file a response to his decision to keep the three causes of action.
The ruling comes about a month after attorneys had a hearing with Collier, a retired Medina County judge assigned by the Ohio Supreme Court to preside over the case.
According to court records, both Richland County Common Pleas Court general division judges, Brent Robinson and Phil Naumoff, recused themselves from the case July 24, citing concerns over impartiality in the matter.
During the November hearing, the attorneys in the case — Canton lawyer Mel Lute Jr., representing the City of Mansfield, and Columbus lawyer John Gambill, representing Page Excavating — largely argued along the lines of briefs previously filed in the lawsuit, which was launched by the city in April.
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision and believe that the correct result was reached based upon the law in Ohio, which is thoroughly set forth in the court’s decision and entry,” Gambill said Wednesday.
“The litigation is still ongoing given that Page Excavating was not dismissed from the case at this early stage, so we plan to continue to vigorously defend Page Excavating against the city’s claims,” he said.
At issue is the contract between the city and Page Excavating signed six years ago that allowed the contractor to remove debris from the site — and to also bury some of the debris.
On one side is the City of Mansfield, which paid $500,000 to have the work done on the 3.2-acre site at 455 Park Ave. West in late 2018 and early 2019, using a portion of the city’s PRIDE tax funds.
On the other is Page Excavating, a Lucas contractor that did the work, as well as the company owners, Jeff and Landa Page, as individuals.
(Below is a PDF with a ruling issued Tuesday by visiting Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Collier.)
In his ruling, Collier dismissed all causes of action against Jeff and Landa Page as individuals, as well as three other allegations against all defendants — fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation and also negligence, all of which may have allowed the city to seek damages, in addition to the contract dispute itself.
One of the claims he dismissed alleged the company “misrepresented their experience and abilities to perform the required demolition” and “also misrepresented the actual work performed, hiding demolished debris and incomplete removal of existing structures that were required to be removed pursuant to the contract.”
The judge ruled the city’s contract with Page Excavating “governs the parties’ relationship with respect to what was and was not required to be removed from the project site and/or demolished.”
Collier said the city failed to allege property damage or person injury independent of the economic losses the city allegedly sustained due to breaches of the contract.
The judge also said the city’s attorneys failed to establish fraud had taken place.
“Plaintiff does not allege the circumstances surrounding the fraud such as the time, place and content of the misrepresentation or concealment. Nor does plaintiff allege who made such misrepresentations or who concealed facts about the extent of Page Excavating’s demolition work,” Collier said.
The judge said the city “failed to plead sufficient facts to meet Ohio’s heightened pleading standard for fraud.”
Collier also denied the city’s attempts to “pierce the corporate veil” and sue Jeff and Landa Page as invididuals.
“Plaintiff’s allegation that Jeff Page signed the contract in his personal capacity is belied by the face of the document. Specifically, the Page Excavating entity name is directly below Jeff Page’s signature. Landa Page’s name appears nowhere within the four corners of the document,” Collier said.
He called it an alleged “simple breach of contract, which is insufficient to impose liability on individual shareholders and/or members.”
Mansfield Law Director Rollie Harper, who took office in January, said March 19 he was considering outside legal counsel for the work.
“That’s certainly the goal,” Harper said during a Board of Control meeting in March in reference to a Richland Source question about recouping expenses.
“We are in the process of hiring outside counsel. We’re looking at negligence and fraud and we’re going to take it from there.”
The city also contributed another $600,000 in PRIDE funds earlier this year, during a $1 million “re-do” by a different contractor on the site. The property is now owned by the Richland County Land Bank, which also utilized a $405,000 state grant to help fund the work.
During a Mansfield City Council meeting in early September, Harper said he was hopeful for a settlement in the case, which came when the Richland County Land Bank discovered a massive amount of material left buried in the initial demolition done by Page Excavating.
The Land Bank assumed ownership of the property after the original demolition was complete and was seeking to have a 3.2-acre site redeveloped.
Land Bank board executive director Amy Hamrick said in March new contractor crews dug down as deep as 40 feet to remove material left behind by Page Excavation.
“Once we tell them everything is buried, (developers) quickly lose interest,” Hamrick said in March.
“To be honest, in my worst dreams, it was never this bad. I don’t know what else to say. It’s unbelievable,” she said of what was found at the site.
