City of West Linn, school district preparing for August Oppenlander trial

With an Aug. 12 trial date looming, the city of West Linn and West Linn-Wilsonville School District are preparing for their showdown in Clackamas County Circuit Court with a flurry of filings related to the purchase and sale of Oppenlander fields.

Attorneys for both sides have proposed instructions for the jury, as well as a jury verdict form, submitted motions and declarations, and responded to other court documents as the two local agencies seek to prove the other at fault in the collapse of the school district’s sale of Oppenlander fields to the city. In one court document, attorneys for the district called the case “a sordid story of manipulation and deception."

In 2021 the city and district worked for several months on a deal for the city to purchase Oppenlander, a 10-acre parcel of baseball fields on Rosemont Road, from the district, which has owned the property for decades.

After declaring the Oppenlander property “surplus” in early 2021, the district moved to put the land up for sale on the open market in spring 2021, leading to an outcry from community members. West Linn residents expressed concern about losing the land , which had been used for dozens of years by youth sports teams and local dog walkers. They asked the city to purchase the land and preserve it as a park.

The city and district established terms for the city to purchase the land to keep it as a park if West Linn voters approved a bond. The parties agreed to have the property appraised through a joint appraisal process, though a recent appraisal conducted for the district valued it at $6.5 million. When the new appraisal came back at $120,000, talks devolved.

In February 2022, the West Linn City Council proposed a $3.5 million bond to purchase and make improvements to the land, which voters approved in May 2022.

A week after the council decided to send the $3.5 million bond to voters, the district sued the city . It alleged the municipality breached the purchase and sale agreement and hoped to terminate the agreement and sell the property to another buyer, or get a better offer from the city.

Parties set the stage for trial

In proposed jury instructions submitted to the court May 31, 2024, the district explained its claims against the city.

“The School District asserts three claims: (1) the City breached the Agreement by not completing the appraisal by December 31, 2021; (2) the City breached the Agreement by not following the ‘Joint Appraiser’ clause; and (3) the City breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by in part failing to perform a fair, objective, good faith, unbiased, and thorough appraisal of Oppenlander Field,” the jury instructions state.

In the first claim, the district referenced a clause from the sale agreement stating the appraisal was to be completed by the close of 2021; however the city contends the district waived this deadline as the school board did not officially approve of the agreement until several days after that deadline.

The district also argues that the appraiser, Sam Romanaggi, treated the city like his sole client and representatives for the city worked with him to secure a more favorable purchase price .

Romanaggi’s appraisal, the district asserts, is erroneously based on the premise that Oppenlander would remain park property in perpetuity, and thus should be appraised as park property rather than developable land.

A clause in the purchase and sale agreement noted that if West Linn voters approved bond funds for the purchase and improvement of Oppenlander, then the land would be designated a park under Chapter 11 of the West Linn City Charter.

The charter states that properties falling under this designation will remain park property unless otherwise approved by West Linn voters. The district argues that this means the Chapter 11 designation is not a permanent encumbrance, as the park could be approved for other uses in the future and thus should not have been appraised as solely park property.

In its own instructions to the jury, the city claims that Romanaggi’s appraisal was valid and that the district should be forced to sell the property to the city for $120,000.

The parties could avoid trial if they reach a settlement agreement prior to Aug. 12. If not, the case will be decided by a Clackamas County jury and Circuit Court judge Susie Norby.