NPI lawsuit with Mat Su Borough settled

The Mat Su Borough and wood chipping company NPI have settled a lawsuit that has been bogged down for the past several years.

In 2006, the Borough adopted a moratorium on timber harvests after residents near the harvest areas complained of operations.  In 2003, NPI had paid 3 million dollars for a dock lease at Port MacKenzie.  In the lawsuit brought forth after the moratorium, NPI argued that the Borough owed them 1 point 7 million dollars in lease credits and demanded 12 to 20 million dollars in cash, alleging the Borough had interfered with timber harvest.

The Borough argued that NPI did not rely solely on Borough timber and owed NPI nothing.

In the lengthy settlement document, NPI receives a little over $1 million and about $1.4 million in lease credits.  The Borough, under the agreement, has deleted NPIs right of first refusal.  The Borough can now collect fees beginning in 2013 based on gross revenues NOT profits.    Each side of the lawsuit is paying their own attorney fees.

Other agreements are — that the Borough can insist that both the dock and uplands lease are assigned to the same tenant; the length of the uplands lease and the dock are tied together and expire in 2041; the 2001 upland lease has been amended to allow loading of not only woodchips but sand, gravel, peat, grain and coal.

The $1.1 million settlement will mostly be paid by funds that have been previously set aside for the case.  Any one in the public can see the court documents by contacting the Alaska Superior Court in Palmer.