BENTONVILLE -- The Bella Vista Property Owners Association won another legal victory Monday when a local circuit judge dismissed the association from a lawsuit related to the stump dump fire.
Judge Brad Karren made his ruling after hearing from attorneys representing the association and 148 plaintiffs who were suing it.
An underground fire burned at the Trafalgar Road stump dump site for almost a year before the association hired firms to put it out. City firefighters discovered the fire on July 29, 2018.
The plaintiffs are seeking money for the damages they say they suffered from the fire's smoke and noxious fumes.
Association attorneys filed a motion seeking to dismiss the association from the lawsuit because the statute of limitations had passed when the lawsuit was filed in October against the association, Thomas Fredericks, Fredericks Construction Co., Blue Mountain Storage and BTS Equipment.
Russell Atchley, one of the attorneys representing the association, told the judge his client's last involvement with the stump dump was in March 2017, and there's a three-year statute of limitations for the association to be sued related to the fire. Atchley said March 31, 2020 was the deadline for the lawsuit to be filed against the association.
Atchley said there are no allegations or claims in the lawsuit that the association had a part in starting the fire. He told the judge the association should be dismissed from the lawsuit.
Ross Noland, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, told the judge that in March 2017 his clients had not suffered any damages from the fire. Noland said damages started in July 2018 when the fire started and lasted for nine months.
He said the association failed to warn about the fire, then failed to put it out in a timely manner. Noland told the judge the association did take responsibility for cleaning up the area.
Sach Oliver, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said the association have made decisions about the stump dump since the fire, which shows their involvement.
"There was not a cause of action until there was smoke and fire," he said.
Karren agreed with Atchely and found the statute of limitations had passed. He granted the motion to dismiss the association from the lawsuit.
Oliver said they respect the judge's decision, but plan to appeal it.
Karren previously granted the same ruling for Cooper and Fredericks because the statue of limitations had passed for them to be sued.
The association remains a party in a separate lawsuit first filed Nov. 27, 2018, on behalf of Curtis Macomber and Tiffany Macomber. They are also suing on behalf of their two minor children.
Stacey Lewis, Bart Lewis, Norvil Lantz and Mary Joan Lantz were added on March 14, 2019, as a plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Kim Carlson, the association's director of marketing and communications, previously estimated the cost to put out and remediate the stump dump site at $4 million.
The association operated the dump from 2003 to 2016 on land leased from Blue Mountain Storage. The dump was a convenience for builders and residents in the area needing to dispose of organic matter, including fall leaves. By the time the fire was found burning underground in July 2018, Brown's Tree Service had purchased the land.