Minturn, Battle Mountain entities settlement approaching finish line after years of litigation
Vail Daily archive
More than two years of litigation could soon reach a conclusion as the town of Minturn and developers of an area south of town known as the Battle Mountain property continue to work through a potential settlement.
The Minturn Town Council on Sept. 3 approved a resolution approving closing documents for various parcels of land in the area, a step Minturn’s town attorney, Mike Sawyer, said is likely to be the final item the council needed to consider in implementing the settlement agreement and ending the litigation.
Sawyer said the transaction could come to a close as early as this week, although “there probably is a little bit more back and forth between the lawyers to tighten the documents up to their final form,” he added.
The town commenced litigation against the Battle Mountain entities in Eagle County district court on March 4, 2022, alleging that the Battle Mountain entities breached agreements as part of a 2008 effort to build a ski and golf resort-oriented project on the Battle Mountain property.
The Battle Mountain entities asserted counterclaims against the town, and in 2023, following settlement discussions, the town and the Battle Mountain entities reached a preliminary agreement aimed at resolving the litigation. As part of the agreement, the town will have the opportunity to acquire land from Battle Mountain in exchange for releasing prior promises and agreements.
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That land includes a deed conveying 55 acres known as the Highlands parcels; a deed conveying a 13-acre parcel adjacent to the future Bolts Lake Reservoir site known as the Reservoir South parcel; a deed conveying two small parcels between the Eagle River and Highway 24 containing approximately 3 acres; and numerous other parcels with a combined value of roughly $47,600,000.
The settlement agreement provides the Battle Mountain entities with the opportunity to obtain land use approvals for up to 250 residential units, or 200 residential units and a spa. The agreement stipulates that the town, or whoever owns the land, should the town sell or relinquish ownership, will not build a spa or wellness facility of its own for 30 years following the implementation of the settlement agreement.
“Battle Mountain is desirous of creating such a facility on their property and they would like to know that that’s something that they have the exclusive right to do,” Sawyer said.
The most valuable parcel the town would receive is known as the Old Tailings Pile. It’s valued at an estimated $26 million but is subject to various environmental restrictions because it’s part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 235-acre Eagle Mine Superfund site.
The site was placed on the EPA’s list of Superfund sites in June of 1986 due to pollutants that had been leaked into the nearby ecosystem from the mining activities in the area, which date back to the 1870s.
“Reviews have concluded that public health risks have been removed and that significant progress has been made in restoring the Eagle River,” according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
But tailings piles in the area including the Old Tailings Pile and another known as the Consolidated Tailings Pile still contain waste from the mines, and cleanup of the area remains ongoing.
“Because the old tailings pile is part of the Superfund site and subject to various environmental restrictions, the possibility exists that the town might choose not to obtain fee title to the land even after remediation is completed,” town staff noted in a memo to the council. “In that circumstance, the town would have an option to obtain an easement across the Old Tailings Pile property for recreational purposes.”
The town would also receive a deed conveying a parcel valued at an estimated $796,000 known as the Recreation Center parcel, which the town could use for “amusements, community facilities, community-oriented building/facility … day care center, recreational facility, studio and education facilities for arts and crafts, and up to three caretaker or employee housing units,” according to the agreement.
But the conveyance of the Recreation Center parcel will not occur at closing, according to the agreement, as there remains environmental cleanup to be done on the property. The town has indicated that it does not want to own the land until the parcel has been delisted as a Superfund site by the EPA.
“While (the Battle Mountain entities) can promise to submit applications to get that done, and they can promise to diligently pursue those applications, they can not promise, ultimately, that the EPA will grant those modifications,” Sawyer said. “So we worked on some compromised language that says that Battle’s obligation is to remediate the site, their obligation is to submit the applications and diligently pursue them, but ultimately the federal government process will play out as it does.”
