Afton

The trial of GJ&M Development Inc. v. Afton continued Monday morning, Dec. 7, at the Washington County Courhouse in Stillwater. Judge Mary Hannon is hearing the case.

During the Monday’s trial: 

• Gordy Jarvis, co-owner of GJ&M, finished his testimony and received cross examination from the defense.
• The defense began questioning by calling council member Randy Nelson to the stand. During Nelson’s testimony he said that he was aware of the proposed project, and surprised by the scope of the project. Additionally, he said that he was not aware of the application or the application rejection by city administrator Mitch Berg until long after.
• Following Nelson’s testimony, former Mayor Julia Welter testified by detailing her knowledge of the project, her interaction with Jarvis and any meetings she had regarding the project.
• Follwoing Welter’s testimony, council member Peg Nolz took the stand and received similar questioning to that of Welter. Nolz said that she had circulated materials relating to the proposed project with her campign information during the 2006 elections.
• Former city administrator Mitch Berg testified after Nolz and explained his reasoning for rejecting the application. It was revealed that Berg had a typo in his rejection letter to which building did not include sufficient information on the site plan. Berg said he never notified Jarvis of the typo. Berg also said that he never informed Jarvis that he could resubmit his application with the added information.

Hannon had discussion with counsel after jurors had been recessed on whether or not the city could be held liable for the actions of its employee.

The trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 9 a.m.