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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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Town will not bend on feral cat feeding ban.
SPORTS.............................
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Desert Ridge player does it all on the field.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Gilbert now wants $36M from Big League Dreams BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
NEWS.....................................
Baristas' racy outfits reel in customers PAGE 27
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ilbert’s claim against Big League Dreams for repairs to the baseball facility has ballooned from $5 million to over $36 million. The former operator of what is now Cactus Yards contended Gilbert has enlarged its liability demand to “touch upon nearly every aspect of the Sports Park” and included all the damages and defects alleged in the town’s suit against the builder, according to court documents. “First of all, the town is not attempting to double-recover anything,” said Robert Grasso, an outside attorney hired by Gilbert to handle the litigation.
“The town claim is comprised of full damages that are recoverable as a result of BLD Gilbert’s breach of the maintenance and operations agreement for the sports park,” he continued, adding: “What we made clear in the case the damages we are recovering is the full amount of damages consisting of actual reconstruction expenses plus the cost of additional reconstruction the town had to forego because of budgetary constraints.” He said Gilbert has disclosed all the claims will be offset by the $13.5 million it won in a settlement against the park’s builder M. A. Mortenson and Co. “We believe the town’s damages claim against BLD-Gilbert is larger than $20 million,” Grasso said, adding that BLD-Gilbert in
turn is seeking $1.5 million in damages from Gilbert. The Gilbert Sun News filed a public records request to the town for expert Ted Bumgardner’s report that detailed the damages totaling $36.3 million, but town officials denied the request. Town Attorney Chris Payne said the report was not subject to disclosure under Arizona public record laws. “Because the expert report was created by Mr. Bumgardner at the direction of outside counsel to further the Town’s position in the litigation, I do not believe the expert report qualifies as a public record,” Payne said in his letter to Gilbert Sun News.
see LEAGUE page 6
Dressing for success Park U expanding in Gilbert-owned building
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
FOOD.............................
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This pork tenderloin recipe will make your day.
COMMUNITY...................... 14 BUSINESS............................. 18 OPINION...............................22 SPORTS.................................24 GETOUT................................27 CLASSIFIED......................... 31
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nrollment at Park University’s downtown campus is going gangbusters – so much so it’s leasing more space from Gilbert. Town Council last week unanimously approved the campus’ expansion to 17,837 square feet from 10,411 square feet at the four-story Gilbert University Building near Ash Street and Vaughn Avenue in the Heritage District. Council also extended the Missouri-based private university’s original three-year lease to five years, ending in 2023 instead of 2021. “In the past year Park University went from one student…and today we stand before you to announce that in a few days short of
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Ezinne Okaru, 11, checked out clothes at a Gilbert Kohl's last weekend as the Boys & Girl Clubs of the East Valley treated more than 100 youngsters to a shopping spree. For details, please see page 14. (Pablo Robles/GSN Staff Photographer)
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