## BOSCH, KUHR, DUGDALE, MARTIN & 

## KAZE, PLLP A Professiona l Limit ed Li ability Partn e rs hip BUR T O N 0 . BOSC H (1931-2007) JO HN B . KUHR (1931-2003) BRAD L EY E . DUGDALE RO N A L D M A RT IN (1937-1998) JAMES M . KAZE ATTORNEY S AND CO UNSE L ORS 335 F O URTH AVENUE K EITH A. M AR I S T UEN B R IA N LI L L ETVEDT S TEPHEN R . BROW N M A RY A NN M OOG G L E NN G. M AC L EOD JAMI E N . B EDWEL L

Office of the Chief Counse l . Attn: FAA Part 16 Do cket Clerk AGC-600 Fede ra l Aviat ion Administration 800 In dependence Ave . SW Washington , DC 2 0591 P . O . BO X 71 5 2 HAV RE , M O NTANA 59 5 01

D ece mber 28, 20 15 TELEPHON E (406) 265-6706 TELEFAX N U M BER (406) 265-7578 E - MA I L b l illet vedt@bkdlaw.o rg



### RE: Safer Medical 

### of Montana, Inc . and George Ackerson v . City 

### of Fort Benton, Montana, Chouteau County, Montana, and Chouteau County Joint Airport Board FAA Docket 

### No . 16-15-12 T o Whom it M ay Concern: COMES NOW Res p onde nt , City of Fort Benton, Montana (the "C ity") , by and through its co un se l of record, pursuant t o 1 4 C. F .R. 

### § 1 6 .26(b ) a nd moves to dismiss th e above ent itl ed Complai nt upon th e grou nd s a nd f o r th e reaso n that Comp l a in a nt s fai l ed to e ng age i n 

### "good faith " effo rt s t o reso lve th e ir Comp l a int prior t o its filing , as req uired by 14 C. F.R. 

### § 1 6.2 1 . Pri or to filin g their Comp laint o n November 18 , 2015, Complainants, through th e ir atto rn ey, Adrian A. Miller , sent a se ttl e m e nt offer by lett e r to J orda n Crosby, City Attorney f o r the C ity of Fort B e nto n , d at e d Oct ober 21, 20 1 5. In th e letter, Co mplainant s stated "S af e r Medical of Montana will not file a c iv il com pl a int w ith the FAA if Mayor Rick Morri s t e nd ers hi s res i g n ation" . See Exhibit "A" . M s . Crosby , by letter dated N ovembe r 4, 20 1 5 , rejected th e Comp la in ants' sett l eme nt offer . Ms . C rosby adv ised Complainants' cou n se l th e offer was n ot a l egi tim ate or good faith offer of settl e m e nt a nd th at any subseq u e nt sim il ar "offers" by Saf er Medical wo uld likewise be d i s miss e d . Ms. Crosby h oweve r , did not c ut off further effo rt s at settl ement and st ated " ... the C ity remai n s open t o good faith se ttl emen t discussions w ith Sa f er M edical and it w ill review and co n s id er any such offe r of settl ement t o reso lve th i s m atter" . See Exhibit "B". Sa f er Medical of Montana did not make a ny subseque nt se ttl e m e nt offers to the C ity or initiate any settl emen t discussions with Ms. C r osby .

### Offi ce of the Chi ef Couns el FAA P art 1 6 D ocket Clerk FAA D o cket No. 1 6-15-12 

### A similar letter was sent to Chouteau County Attorney , Stephen Gannon, advising him the only way to avoid the filing of the Complaint by Safer Medical of Montana, was for the Chouteau County Commissioners and the member of the Joint airport Board to tender their resignations. 14 C.F.R.§ 16.21(a) requires that "prior to filing a complaint under this part , a person directly and substantially affected by the alleged noncompliance shall initiate and engage in good faith efforts to resolve the disputed matter informally with those individuals or entities believed responsible for the noncompliance . " The rule goes on to state that efforts at informal resolution may include mediation, arbitration , the use of a dispute resolution board or some other form of third party assistance . The rule also states that a number of FAA offices are available upon request to assist the parties with informal resolution of their dispute. In this case the only effort at informal resolution of the dispute, imitated by the Complainants' was to demand the resignation of the City's Mayor; the resignation of all of the elected Chouteau County Commissioners ; and the resignation of the duly appointed members of the Joint Chouteau County Airport Board . The City contends the Complainants knew the offer would be rejected. Resignation by these elected officials would not change the FAA's position regarding the current lease between Safer Medical and the Joint Chouteau County Airport Board . The FAA granted an exemption for the current lease and it will remain in effect through its ten year term . Nor would it resolve the issue created by the FAA's refusal to allow the lease to be renewed when its primary term expires in February , 2023. The Complainants' demand goes beyond the realm of any reasonable relief they might obtain through the FAA complaint process. Threatening to file a formal complaint against the City unless the City caves in to the Complainants' demand on its face is unreasonable and clearly was not mpde in good fa ith. Because 16 C.F . R. § 16.21 (a) requires a good faith effort to resolve the dispute prior to filing a complaint and Safer Medical of Montana, Inc . and George Ackerson did not make a good faith offer of settlement, the Complaint should be dismissed . For the reasons set forth above, the City of Fort Benton respe c tfully request s th e above referenced Complaint be dismissed with prejudi ce . Sincerely , Brian Li l le vedt Attorn ey for the City of Fort Benton

### Office of th e Ch ief Co un sel FAA Part 16 Docket Clerk FAA Docket No. 16-15-12 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing Respondent City ofFort Benton, Montana's Motion to Dismiss Complainants' Part 16 Complaint on the following persons at the following addresses or email addresses by electronic mail : Adrian A. 

### Miller Holland & 

### Hart 

### LLP 401 North 31 st St. Suite 1500 P.O. Box 639 Billings, MT 59103-0639 AAMiller@hollandhart.com Mitchell A. 

### Young 2717 Skyway Drive , Suite F Helena , MT 59602 myoung@mtcounties.org Office of the Chief Counsel FAA Part 16 Docket Clerk , AGC-600 Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue SW Washington , DC 20591 9-AWA-AGC - Part-16@faa.gov Dated this 28 1 h 

### day of December, 2015. Emily Harsh n For the City of Fort Benton,. , 't _1, :)



# HOLLAND&HART **~** -· UG;, ' . · •. c.Xf '\NDE:P

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. com October 21, 20 1 5
SENT V I A CERT IFIED MAIL AN D EMAIL Jordan Cros by Ugrin, Alexander, Zadi c k & Hi gg ins, P . C. #2 Rai lroad Square, Sui te B P.O. Box 1 746 Great Falls, MT 59403 He: Con fidential Set tl e m e nt Offer S ubje ct to Mont. R. Ev id . 408 ; MCA 

### § 26-1-813 Dea r Jordan: I write on behalf of Safer Medica l of Mo nt ana. My client is con t emp lating brin gi ng 

### a complai nt -. vilh th e FAA al l eg in g that the C i t y, th e Co unt y, and th e Joint Airp ort Board have \ ·io late d th eir Ai r port Sponso r Assurances . wh i c h can be found at: ht t ps :l /\\'\\'\\' . !'aa .gov/ai rports/ai p / gran l _ass urailccs /mecl ia /ai rport-sp onso r- ass urances-ai p. pdf. The basis !'o r this claim is that Sa f er Medical of Mo ntana has been tre:ncd unequally. We beli eve that this is a violat i on of the assura nc e against econom ic no ndi scrimination , Assu rance Number 22, among ot hers. I n addition , we believe the C ity, Co unty, and Board have made false statements to the FAA regarding their co mpl ia n ce with th e ass uran ces. 

### The purpo se of th is letter is to otTer a se ttlement. Safer Medical of lv! ontana \V ill not file a c ivi l L:ompla int w ith the FAA if Mayor Ri ck Morris tende rs hi s res ignation. Please let me know yo ur r l.!spo nsc by November -L 2015. Si nc erely ,

Adrian A. Miller AAM/ as r



### EXHIBIT 

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### UGRIN, ALEXANDER, ZADICK 

## & HIGGINS, 

## P.C. NANCY P. CORY J ORDAN Y. CROSBY DAVID J. GRUBICH MARK F . HIGGIN S ROBERT F . JAMES MARY K. JARACZESKI JOHN D. AlEXANDER {RETIRED)

Our File: F021-01 Adrian A. Miller Holland & Hart, LLP ATTORNEYS AT LAW #2 RAILROAD SQUARE, SUITE B P.O. Box 1746 GREAT FALLS, MONTANA 59403-1746 TELEPHONE (406) 771-0007 FAX (406) 452-9360 E-MAil uazh@uazh.com, Website http://uazh.com November 4, 2015

SENT VIA EMAIL ONLY 401 North 31 51 Street, Suite 1500 P.O. Box 639 Billings, MT 59103-0639 AAMiller@hollandhart.com CATHY J . LEWIS KEVIN C. MEEK MARK D. MEYER ANDREW T. NEWCOMER ROGERT. Win GARY M. ZADICK JAMES R. ZADICK

NE I L E. UGRIN 1945- 2007

Re: October 21, 2015 Letter From Adrian Miller Regarding FAA Complaint Dear Adrian, The City of Fort Benton rejects Safer Medical's October 21 "offer." The City was disappointed by what appears to be Safer Medical ' s attempt to improperly influence a public servant to remove himself from his public office by threatening to file a complaint against the City with a federal agency if he did not. Such a request is not a legitimate or good faith offer of settlement. The City questions the propriety of Safer Medical even presenting such an offer. The offer clearly states Safer Medical is "contemplating bringing a complaint with the FAA alleging that the City, the County, and the Joint Airport Board have violated their Airport Sponsor Assurances." The FAA complaint process, or any other legal action Safer Medical may pursue, could not possibly result in an award or find i ng for the removal of the Mayor from his duly-e lected office. Therefore it exceeds the bounds of legitimate demands for relief which Safer Medical could ever attain. One can only assume the offer was meant to embarrass, harass or burden the Mayor, a third-party to this matter. Any subsequent similar "offers" by Safer Medical will likewise be dismissed without consideration . 

### EXHIBIT 

# I 6That all being said, the City remains open to good faith settlement discussions with Safer Medical and it will rev ie w and consider any such offer of sett l ement to resolve this matter. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have on this or any matter . Thank you. Sincerely Yours, ( /"' ., UGRIN, ALEXANDER , ZADICK & H I GG I NS P.C. ' r 

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cc . Mitch Yo ung (via email) Steve Gannon (via email) City o f Fort Benton (via email)

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