Parties seek trial in SilverWing lawsuit

SANDPOINT — Mediation and arbitration have failed to gain any loft in SilverWing at Sandpoint’s federal suit against Bonner County.

Both sides filed a joint resolution Monday asking for a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene in April.

“The parties are not presently able to agree on alternative dispute resolution and wish to proceed to trial,” read joint notice to the court.

The notice comes after Bonner County rejected an offer by SilverWing to settle the matter for $5 million, according to Commissioner Mike Nielsen. The offer is $500,000 more than what SilverWing offered to settle for in 2013.

SilverWing, the developers of a fly-in housing project on the west side of Sandpoint Airport, sued the county in 2012 alleging it was misled about a plan to relocate a runway and Federal Aviation Administration approval of through-the-fence access at the airport. The suit also alleged that the county violated SilverWing’s civil rights via inverse condemnation and denial of equal protection under the law.

However, a federal judge jettisoned three-fourths of the claims raised by SilverWing last month. Judge Edward Lodge ruled that the company’s civil rights claims fail as a matter of law because there is no allegation that the county had a policy or custom that was the moving force behind  the alleged constitutional violations.

Lodge left one state law claim intact in which SilverWing argued that it reasonably relied — to its detriment — on the county’s promise that there were no plans to shift the runway.