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SUNNY Temp: 84 °F Wind: W at 8 mph Tuesday, June 4, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend June 4, 2002 Ferguson suit on Winetrout heard with no public present Judge says afterward that he didn’t mean to exclude media By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Attorneys presented their cases in a lawsuit over Medford Urban Renewal Agency’s $20 million Winetrout project Monday during a Circuit Court hearing that was closed to the public. Charles Corrigan, the Portland attorney representing downtown landlord Bill Ferguson, said he requested that he participate by telephone — the reason the hearing was moved out of the courtroom and into the judge’s chambers. He said he did not know why the hearing excluded the public. Medford attorney Bob Cowling, who represents Medford Urban Renewal Agency in the lawsuit, said it is common to hold telephonic hearings in the judge’s chambers. "It’s nothing secret," Cowling said. "It was because it was a telephone conference and they always do that in chambers." Judge Phil Arnold told reporters they could not attend the hearing but later said in a phone message he did not intend to exclude the media. He left the message in response to the Mail Tribune’s request for a ruling on why he had excluded the public from the hearing. During the hearing, attorneys were given 10 minutes to present their cases, said Don Burt, Medford Urban Renewal Agency director. He said Arnold told attorneys he would make a decision and contact them but he didn’t say when that would be. Burt and MURA’s nine board members are named in the lawsuit that claims Winetrout is outside the agency’s scope. Winetrout is a mixed-use building with a parking garage, condominiums and office space proposed for the corner of Fir and Main streets. MURA has been negotiating with KCS Development LLC in Battle Ground, Wash., to help build the project. MURA board member John Michaels showed up at the courtroom Monday for the hearing. He was allowed in the judge’s chambers during the proceeding because he is named as one of the defendants. According to Ferguson’s lawsuit, the Winetrout project does not fall within the scope of the City Center Revitalization Plan and Report that outlines MURA’s purposes. State law requires MURA to study economic and social impacts on businesses before it spends taxpayers’ money, the lawsuit stated. MURA plans to contribute about $9 million toward the parking garage and the streetscape while a developer may contribute about $11 million to build the portion with offices, condominiums and retail space. In the lawsuit, Ferguson asked the court to hold board members liable for "the return of public money spent by MURA on the Winetrout project." Ferguson said on Friday that he named the board members individually to help prevent their liability in case MURA signed a binding contract with a Winetrout developer. "If we had waited until after they signed an agreement so it was irreversible, board members might have had personal financial risk," Ferguson said. "We didn’t want to cause a problem for the board members — we thought we were doing them a favor," Ferguson said. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S