Judge: Lakeview Commons’ future in SLT council’s hands

By Jeremy Evans

South Lake Tahoe discovered last month that it was operating under an invalid contract with construction company Reeve Knight, the contractor selected to complete the Lakeview Commons project.

On Monday, El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Steve Bailey ruled the city needs to start the bid process all over again, a decision that will derail any improvements to the El Dorado Beach area until at least next spring.

“We expected the judge to send it back to the city,” said City Attorney Patrick Enright. “Now we need to decide what we will do next.”

The city will meet on Tuesday in a closed session to evaluate its next move, although the city is likely facing two options. It can either appeal the judge’s decision within 30 days or it will turn the bid process back over to the City Council, which would restart the process of accepting bids for the project.

The future of Lakeview Commons is uncertain. Photo/Kathryn Reed

If the closed session results in a decision that the project’s fate be handled by the City Council, it will discuss the matter at its next meeting on Oct. 19.

“We might wait until the full 30 days are up before we do anything or we could turn it over to the City Council to decide,” Enright said. “We will go over our litigation options tomorrow in the closed session.”

Bailey could have ruled that the city had to award the bid to Clark & Sullivan, the Sparks-based firm that brought the case to court. While Reeve Knight was awarded the bid on Aug. 3 on a 4-1 vote by the City Council, Clark & Sullivan challenged the awarding of the $4.5 million bid after excavating had begun. Bailey issued an injunction on Aug. 30 that halted construction, and then ruled in mid-September that the contract was void and invalid.

Since construction will remain at a standstill until spring at the earliest, Bailey signed an executive order to ensure proper winterizing of the property, per requirements by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Lahontan Water Board.

Calls from Lake Tahoe News to both Clark & Sullivan and Reeve Knight went unreturned as of Monday evening.