Fayette airport attorney requests dismissal of lawsuit
DUNBAR TWP. – The legal counsel for the Joseph A. Hardy – Connellsville Airport has requested a Fayette County judge dismiss the action brought against the airport authority by a Connellsville City councilman, stating he has no legal standing in the matter. In the preliminary objections filed late Monday by attorney Mark Rowan, solicitor for the Fayette County Airport Authority, the document states that Brad Geyer, whether as a city councilman or city resident, cannot claim that a breach of contract exists between the authority and the city.
The response was filed 20 days after Geyer, through his legal counsel, attorney Maria Balling-Peck, filed a civil action that claimed the authority breached a May 18, 1936, contract between the city and county that would name the new municipal airdrome and aviation landing field for Connellsville after it had provided a sum of money to purchase the land for construction of the facility.
Rowan, however, claims that Geyer was not a party to the agreement or to any contract or agreement with the authority.
“The action was not brought in the name of the political subdivision, that being the City of Connellsville, and thus should be stricken,” states the document.
In the response to the lawsuit, Rowan states that Geyer, as a taxpayer in the city has no legal standing as his individual status does not meet the criteria required by law to claim a breach of contract.
“(Geyer’s complaint) fails to allege that he is a third-party beneficiary and fails to allege the facts necessary to establish third-party beneficiary status or rights,” states the document. “Furthermore, nothing in the agreement indicates that (Geyer) is a beneficiary or third-party beneficiary.”
Geyer’s claim that the state’s Sunshine Law was violated when the authority met in special session Jan. 6 and took action to rename the airport was also refuted in Rowan’s objections.
“(Geyer) alleges that the (authority) voted at the Jan. 6 meeting to change the name of the airport, but does not allege that the meeting was closed to the public,” states the court-filed document. “Geyer’s claims under the Sunshine Act are time-barred.”
The early morning January meeting coincided with the 84th birthday of Joseph A. Hardy, multimillionaire founder of 84 Lumber Co. and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in Farmington, and a Fayette County commissioner.
Several members of the authority presented Hardy with an artist’s rendition of the airport with the new signage bearing the name the Joseph A. Hardy Regional Airport at his birthday gala that same evening.
In response to public outcry, the authority revised the name at its February meeting to include Connellsville.
In response to Geyer’s claim that Connellsville City Council should have been specifically notified of the January special meeting, Rowan responded that the general public notice met state regulations.
“This allegation is contrary to the law,” said Rowan. “(The law) only requires notice to the general public, and not to any particular party or entity.”
Geyer, meanwhile, said Tuesday that he had not had the opportunity to review the response to his lawsuit and could not comment.
Geyer, along with other Connellsville and county residents and Connellsville City Council, has opposed the name change, stating that the 1936 agreement calls for the name to be retained, regardless of ownership. When the airport authority was created in 1965, according to Geyer’s lawsuit, “(the authority) was legally bound to follow the terms of the 1936 agreement, which specifically limited the terms of the sale of the airport, which included maintaining the name of The Connellsville Airport.”
A coalition comprised of residents, the Connellsville Historical Society and others opposing the name change have scheduled a meeting for May 31 to discuss the matter.