Partial settlement reached in Reaser Pointe lawsuit as tensions boil over (UPDATED WITH AUDIO)

ELYRIA — Tensions ran high in a special meeting of Elyria City Council on Wednesday when Council voted to approve a partial settlement between the city and DBR Commercial Realty LLC over the Chestnut Commons connector road Reaser Pointe Crossing. Terms of the settlement agreement were not disclosed. Speaking after the meeting, DBR owner Dan Reaser blamed the debacle on Mayor Frank Whitfield, telling The Chronicle-Telegram his decision to fire former city engineer Tim Ujvari set the project back years. "We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for one big decision made by the mayor when he took office. His first official decision he made was firing the engineer that was in charge of this project. Without him doing that, we wouldn't be here. We'd have a project almost completed four years later," Reaser said. While Reaser was being interviewed by a Chronicle-Telegram reporter, Whitfield approached him and interrupted. At one point, Reaser responded: "… and I'll say that right to your face" in regard to the Ujvari firing and its fallout. "I just watched how you handled this," Whitfield said. "Man-to-man you would've pulled me to the side, but go ahead, continue," Whitfield said to Reaser. Reaser responded: "Being a man, you would've come up and not sit here while this was going on." "You can report exactly what's going on. It's animosity toward me," Reaser told the reporter. Whitfield continued to interrupt, saying: "You could have talked to me instead of talking about me," and said he walked over because he was ready to get it done and was tired of delays. "We're trying to get things done. It's clear we get things done. Normally a developer comes with a plan. We approve a plan. There's no plan, there's no plot. I'm glad we're able to get through it. And reasonable people were able to come up with a solution," Whitfield said. Reaser said he questioned whether to walk away from the deal after the exchange with Whitfield. He waited until the mayor signed the agreement before adding his own signature. Reaser called Whitfield's treatment of him unbecoming of a mayor and said he should resign. Reaser had supported former Mayor Holly Brinda, whom Whitfield defeated. And he has a long history of helping elect mayors in the city in the past. Whitfield, meanwhile, told Reaser he refused to be bullied and had led the city with integrity and refused to be bought. "Maybe that's your strategy to get things done but not mine," Whitfield said. Later, Whitfield addressed the exchange and said he will continue to extend an olive branch to Reaser and other developers seeking to do business in Elyria. "… But I'm not going to be bullied and I'm not going to be pushed around and neither is the city," Whitfield said. Mark Craig, an attorney representing Reaser, thanked City Council for its leadership in getting the development of Reaser Pointe Crossing back on track. "I want to congratulate you for agreeing to this course of action. I also want to acknowledge that Dan Reaser was willing to sacrifice his claims for lost profits that could have come from the litigation. He gave up a lot and came back to the table to work on this solution, because of his love for the city of Elyria, and he continues to look out for its best interests," Craig said. Council President Vic Stewart, D-at Large, said the settlement is a good deal for the city. "We're just trying to move forward slowly," Stewart said. "We've wasted three years and this could have been resolved. And we offered to try and do that in the beginning. ... So unfortunately, it's taken us this long period of time to get to that point," Stewart said. A long history In August 2021, the city was sued by DBR Commercial Realty, alleging design flaws that resulted in flooding on adjoining property, hindering future development. The suit sought damages for breach of contract, trespass and nuisance, alleging the city took what would have been a $56 million development project and turned it into an "unusable flood zone and saddled DBR's property with a road that was built solely for the city's development and without any regard for DBR's future development." "In this deal, I compromised a lot because when there's a new administration coming in and things are going to roll, and things are going to happen, things are going to be positive for this community," Reaser said. Ujvari retired in 2017, then in late 2018 came back as an administrative project manager in then-Mayor Brinda's office to help oversee the road project. According to previous reporting by The Chronicle, Ujvari's role was "to act as the city representative in the oversight and supervision of all contractors working on these projects happening in the city of Elyria and to interface with other stakeholders who were involved in the project" including the Ohio Department of Transportation, Lorain County, the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA. Ujvari was the administrative project manager in December 2019 after Brinda's term ended and Mayor Frank Whitfield took over. Whitfield eliminated Ujvari's position in the first week of January 2020, only a month after the city signed agreements with DBR and Walmart. He reassigned Ujvari's duties to then-city engineer John Schneider. The lawsuit was seeking damages on three counts in excess of $25,000 each, along with attorney fees, in addition to a writ of mandamus compelling the city to initiate appropriate proceedings for Reaser's property and assess compensation for taking the property. The road was constructed in partnership with the city as a way to ease traffic congestion from Chestnut Commons, with a development agreement signed in 2019 under Brinda. Reaser purchased 60 acres in 2018 with plans to develop the property with a road and commercial and light industrial use. Reaser donated a portion of the land in 2019 with Walmart donating some land for construction. Under the development agreement, the city was responsible for the design and implementation of stormwater management, utilities and light poles. The agreement between Brinda and Reaser held that both sides operate in good faith to work together in the design and construction process. The lawsuit alleged the Whitfield administration altered preliminary plans upon taking office in 2020. The lawsuit claimed there were no flooding issues on the property prior and changes to the design of stormwater retention ponds resulted in frequent flooding, making the property undevelopable. Contact Kevin Martin at (440) 329-7121 or kmartin@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMartinCT.