Platte City’s Board of Aldermen decided last week to settle up on its legal expenses in the 2010 lawsuit filed by its former sewer interceptor project contractor, Rose-Lan Contractors.

The legal costs to the City totaled $100,000. Half of that fee will be paid by the City’s insurance company, Missouri Public Risk, leaving the City to cover $50,000. This cost comes on top of the $325,000 the City agreed to pay to Rose-Lan to setttle the suit last month in the United States, Western District of Missouri Appellate Court. The suit involved Rose-Lans’ claims that it was misinformed by the City about soil conditions at the site on the City’s west side near the Platte River.

“What happened really is Rose-Lan had a claim that the soil conditions on site were different than they thought,” Platte City City Administrator DJ Gehrt said. “(They claimed it was) much siltier than the expected fatty clay.”

To read more, pick up the Jan. 18 edition of The Platte County Citizen.