North Little Rock will pay $60,000 to riverboat company owners to settle a lawsuit the company filed against the city for ending its lease in January 2016, according to a proposal the City Council is to consider Monday.
DAM Riverboat Co. and Greenway Dining Club sued the city in August 2016 under a claim that North Little Rock wrongfully terminated its lease to operate the riverboat Mark Twain for Arkansas River tours from the city's downtown riverfront next to the city-owned Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.
The settlement awaiting City Council approval doesn't admit any liability by the city and includes "any and all alleged damages" and any other costs. Once approved, payment is to be made to the riverboat company within 14 days, according to the settlement agreement with Dwayne C. Jones, the former company's owner.
Greenway is a company that DAM Riverboat bought so it could obtain a license to serve alcohol and oversee a "nonprofit private club," according to the lawsuit. The riverboat company's name derived from the first-name initials of its three partners.
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The riverboat company is to dismiss with prejudice all claims against the city, according to the settlement agreement.
"My clients have resolved the matter, and they're pleased to have it behind them," John Coulter, a Little Rock attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said Thursday.
The settlement keeps the city from going through a more expensive litigation if the lawsuit were taken to trial, North Little Rock City Attorney Amy Fields said.
"We felt like the city had not breached the contract," Fields said. "This is significantly less than the amount of damages they were seeking. It is the best route for us to take and also is in the best interest of the city."
Mayor Joe Smith said the company originally sought $350,000 in damages before the two sides entered into a mediation process.
"We referenced some risk assessment, and we determined that it was best to settle for significantly less than their original damage claim," Smith said. "It was in the city's best interest to manage the risk."
North Little Rock had agreed in March 2013 to a two-year lease agreement that granted the riverboat company exclusive use of a specific area of the downtown riverfront in lieu of rent. The lease allowed the Mark Twain to tie to the city-owned Patriot tug that would also serve as the company's offices, gift shop and event rental space.
The riverboat company was in the first year of a one-year lease renewal, with an option for two more such extensions.
When the hull of the PatÂriot, built in 1939, began leaking and its hull deteriorating, the tug was in danger of sinking, according to a damage assessment by an out-of-state company that the city hired. Smith notified the riverboat company in December 2015 that the city would end its lease 30 days later in January 2016. The city later sold the Patriot for salvage.
The company had to end its riverboat cruise operation, canceling all rentals and tours already scheduled.
Metro on 02/11/2018