BOSCH, KUHR, DUGDALE, MARTIN & KAZE, PLLP A Professional Limited Liability Partnership 

BURTON 0 . BOSCH (1931-2007) 

JOHN B. KUHR (1931-2003) 

BRADLEY E. DUGDALE 

RONALD MARTIN (1937-1998) 

JAMES M. KAZE 

ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS 

335 FOURTH AVENUE 

KEITH A. MARISTUEN 

BRIAN LILLETVEDT 

STEPHEN R. BROWN 

MARY ANN MOOG 

GLENN G. MACLEOD 

JAMIE N. BEDWELL 

Office of the Chief Counsel. 

Attn: FAA Part 16 Docket Clerk 

AGC-600 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Ave. SW 

Washington, DC 20591 

P.O. BOX 71 52 

HAVRE, MONTANA 59501 

December 28, 2015 

TELEPHONE 

(406) 265-6706 

TELEFAX NUMBER 

(406) 265-7578 

E-MAIL 

blilletvedt@bkdlaw.org 

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 

To Whom it May Concern: 

COMES NOW Respondent, City of Fort Benton, Montana (the "City"), by and through its 

counsel of record, pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 16.26(b) and moves to dismiss the above 

entitled Complaint upon the grounds and for the reason that Complainants fai led to 

engage in "good faith " efforts to resolve their Complaint prior to its filing , as required 

by 14 C.F.R. § 16.21. 

Prior to filing their Complaint on November 18, 2015, Complainants, through their 

attorney, Adrian A. Miller, sent a settlement offer by letter to Jordan Crosby, City 

Attorney for the City of Fort Benton, dated October 21, 20 15. In the letter, 

Complainants stated "Safer Medical of Montana will not file a civil complaint with the 

FAA if Mayor Rick Morris tenders his resignation". See Exhibit "A". 

Ms. Crosby, by letter dated November 4, 2015, rejected the Complainants' settlement 

offer. Ms. Crosby advised Complainants' counsel the offer was not a legitimate or good 

faith offer of settlement and that any subsequent similar "offers" by Safer Medical would 

likewise be dismissed. Ms. Crosby however, did not cut off further efforts at settlement 

and stated " ... the City remains open to good faith settlement discussions with Safer 

Medical and it will review and consider any such offer of settlement to resolve this 

matter". See Exhibit "B". Safer Medical of Montana did not make any subsequent 

settlement offers to the City or initiate any settlement discussions with Ms. Crosby. 
Office of the Chief Counsel 

FAA Part 16 Docket Clerk 

FAA Docket No. 16-15-12 

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 faith. 

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 respectfully requests the above 

referenced Complaint be dismissed with prejudice. 

Sincerely, 

Brian Lille vedt 

Attorney for the City of Fort Benton 
Office of the Chief Counsel 

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 of Fort 

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 281

h day of December, 2015. 

Emily Harsh n 

For the City of Fort Benton 
,., 't 

_1, :) 

HOLLAND&HART ~ -· UG;, ' . · •. c.Xf'\NDE:P Adrian ~il ler . · '•r:r.-,1 •• ~ tt.. {' 

Phone (406) 896-4612 .. · ' ' • -·· 

Fax (406) 206·0081 

AAMiller@hollandhart.com 

October 21, 2015 

SENT VIA CERTIFIED MAIL AND EMAIL 

Jordan Crosby 

Ugrin, Alexander, Zadick & Higgins, P.C. 

#2 Railroad Square, Suite B 

P.O. Box 1746 

Great Falls, MT 59403 

He: Con fidential Set tl ement Offer 

Subject to Mont. R. Evid. 408; MCA § 26-1-813 

Dear Jordan: 

I write on behalf of Safer Medical of Montana. My client is contemplating bringing a 

complaint -.vilh the FAA al leging that the City, the County, and the Joint Airport Board have 

\·iolated their Airport Sponsor Assurances. which can be found at: 

htt ps:l /\\'\\'\\'. !'aa.gov/a i rports/a i p/gran l_ assurailccs/mecl ia/ai rport-sponsor-assurances-ai p. pdf. 

The basis !'or this claim is that Safer Medical of Montana has been tre:ncd unequally. We believe 

that this is a violation of the assurance against economic nondiscrimination, Assurance Number 

22, among others. In addition, we believe the City, County, and Board have made false 

statements to the FAA regarding their compliance with the assurances. 

The purpose of th is letter is to otTer a settlement. Safer Medical of lv!ontana \Vill not file 

a civil L:omplaint with the FAA if Mayor Rick Morris tenders his resignation. Please let me 

know your rl.!sponsc by November -L 2015. 

Sincerely, 

Adrian A. Miller 

AAM/asr 

EXHIBIT 

I A 

Holland & Hart ' ' " 

?hone H06l ..? S2<~166 Fio( :-l061257·1669 www.h oll.lndhart.<om 

401 North 3i~t Stlft.' t Suit t~ 1500 !Jiii u~ g~. T s~ltQ l Ni,ulingAddre~~ P.O.Box639 Utllings, M1 591 03·06 39 

\~ .. h·n liD; lid r Cl! .. ()ll (i•y (oior,ICO ~pmg~ D~IIVt.'r ()(1""'-1' f('(l) ({'nt.,:·r B<rhng•, 8 0i\C" ( h'L•ytmrw Jol(k<.on Ho~~· l <Ht Ve9ti.S A<:fl·.) S.llt Lllk(' City San1fl Ft.\ w .nhmgton, o.c -.'} 
UGRIN, ALEXANDER, ZADICK & HIGGINS, P.C. 

NANCY P. CORY 

JORDAN Y. CROSBY 

DAVID J. GRUBICH 

MARK F. HIGGINS 

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 59403-17 46 

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 

NEIL 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 finding for the removal of 

the Mayor from his duly-elected 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 6 
That all being said, the City remains open to good faith settlement discussions with 

Safer Medical and it will review and consider any such offer of settlement 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 & HIGGINS P.C. 

' r r -----

{ClC C~J)Li t _ r,c+ .. rdan Y. Crosby\ ~ i 

jyc@uazh.to~ ) ( ______ J 

-

cc. Mitch Young (via email) 

Steve Gannon (via email) 

City of Fort Benton (via email) 

2