UPPCO responds to claims
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Naterra Land purchased hundreds of acres along UPPCO hydroelectric projects in 2005 but now wants out of the deal and is suing UPPCO for breach of contract and fraud in federal court.
“Remember these are only allegations,” UPPCO Vice President Keith Moyle said in a press release. “While we understand that Naterra Land is not happy with the pace of its land development, we very much disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit.”
The suit alleges UPPCO made misrepresentations of fact that induced Naterra to buy several properties around hydroelectric dams in Marquette, Delta and Ontonagon counties.
Naterra alleges those misrepresentations caused the Minnesota-based land development company to suffer substantial monetary damages and losses. Naterra said UPPCO breached its contract and its “duty of good faith and fair dealing” owed to Naterra.
Naterra wants monetary compensation in an amount to be determined at trial and recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs, according to papers filed in the lawsuit. The company also said it is entitled to “recission” — cancelation of the contract and returning parties to the positions they would have had if the contract had not been made.
UPPCO said it is confident that no fraud was committed nor misrepresentations made in its contract negotiations to sell land to Naterra.
“We understand that Naterra Land is frustrated that the process is lengthy and time consuming,” Moyle said in the press release. “But there is nothing that UPPCO is doing that prevents them from developing a major portion of the land they purchased. We would hope to continue working with Naterra Land, but we’re very disappointed they chose to file this lawsuit.”
Officials at Naterra declined to respond until they reviewed UPPCO’s statement.
The 2005 sale included 960 acres near Bond Falls in Ontonagon County, 150 acres near Boney Falls in Marquette and Delta counties and 250 acres near the Cataract Basin in Marquette County.
In September 2005, after Naterra had committed time and money toward developing the properties, Naterra officials visited the AuTrain Basin and learned the reservoir water level had been drawn down to make dike repairs.
Lawyers for Naterra said the property, as it was, could not be developed or sold for retail lakeshore property in the near future.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that UPPCO said no other dam repairs were going to be made on any of the other sites. In September 2006, Naterra said it learned UPPCO was going to install a fuse plug safety device at the dam on Bond Falls. The application for the repair was allegedly filed before closing of the sale.
