Hawkins contract meet set in Seattle

Whitman County lawyers will met in Seattle with Hawkins Companies representatives in the next couple of weeks to finalize a proposed second amendment to the two sides’ development agreement.

Gary Petrovich, county administrator, said Monday he and Jeff DeVoe, Hawkins project manager, have been talking to work out differences over an amended deal Hawkins proposed last spring.

Commissioners Pat O’Neill and Greg Partch approved the amendment for a $15 million county commitment in January without allowing public input on the decision. The Organization to Void Illegal Conduct, based in Colfax, filed an injunction suit in Superior Court shortly after that.

The group contends commissioners made the decision in illegal secret meetings, that the county will be paying to develop land for Hawkins and that the deal should be nullified because Hawkins is not a licensed contractor in the state of Washington.

“Either side could push the litigation at this point. Neither side is,” said Pullman Attorney Tim Esser, who filed the OVIC suit.

Whitman County agreed in 2008 to pay for $9.1 million of infrastructure construction at the 714,000-square-foot shopping center site. The January amendment upped the deal to $15 million.

The second amendment is intended to alleviate some of the concerns brought up in the OVIC suit.

Among them, said Commissioner Michael Largent, is a clause to protect the county from liability if it cannot secure the $15 million.

“We would certainly welcome that, but that’s not OVIC’s goal,” said Esser. “Our primary concern right now is that we don’t believe the project is financially feasible.”

DeVoe told the Gazette last month his company would not be able to secure a development loan without the county’s funding in place.

Commissioners last week put Prosecutor Denis Tracy back in charge of the county’s defense of the suit last week after exceeding a funds ceiling ordered by Superior Court Judge David Frazier.