GALESBURG — An Oneida resident who entered into a contract with the city of Galesburg to operate Lake Storey beach last summer filed a lawsuit against the city Thursday, arguing the city breached the contract.
Reynolds started managing the site after the Galesburg City Council approved his five-year contract on May 15, 2017, but verbally terminated the contract slightly over a month later. Reynolds is suing for $80,674.99, including $50,000 for income lost on the site’s water slide; $20,000 for a bank loan assumed for the purpose of operating the beach and concessions; and $5,000 for the purchase of a new pontoon boat due to the dilapidated condition of the boat, according to Reynolds’ complaint.
“He’s been definitely aggrieved because of this,” said Bill Butts, Reynolds’ attorney. “It’s a bad deal.”
According to the contract between Reynolds and the city, the latter agreed to complete all pre-season maintenance of the site’s waterslide and ensure all fixtures — such as the water slide, boiler and bricks and mortar — worked prior to the facility’s opening. Though the maintenance should have been completed on or before the Saturday before Memorial Day, it was not done as of June 23, 2017, the suit contends. Reynolds also bought $600 worth of sand for the beach, and the suit says the beach “was unusable” since Reynolds had to buy his own sand.
Reynolds has requested a jury trial, which Butts estimated could take place within the next few months. Butts said the city made the project “unworkable,” particularly in regards to the water slide maintenance.
“That’s an essential part of the bargain, was that that thing would be operational and the maintenance would be done to start the summer season,” Butts said. “When you’re already in the 23rd of June and they can’t even assure you that it’s going to be up and operating by the Fourth of July, the whole thing’s useless after that.”
City Attorney Brad Nolden said Friday the city had not yet been served with a copy of the complaint, and that the city does not comment on pending litigation. In an email from July 21, 2017, City Manager Todd Thompson confirmed that the city’s pontoon boat was not operational and that Reynolds chose to buy his own pontoon boat rather than repair the city’s boat.
Neither Thompson nor Nolden responded to an inquiry Friday as to how much revenue Lake Storey brought in for the city for the 2017 season, and what the total amount of expenses was. In July 2017, the city anticipated that it would spend approximately $4,000 in staff costs to operate the beach area for the period of June 30 through Labor Day, and expected to collect the same amount of revenue for that period.
Rebecca Susmarski: (309) 343-7181, ext. 261; rsusmarski@register-mail.com; @RSusmarski