BENTONVILLE -- A circuit judge on Monday dismissed the Bella Vista Property Owners Association as a defendant in a lawsuit filed last year over 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 site for months before the association hired companies to put it out. City firefighters discovered the fire July 29, 2018.
The plaintiffs seek money for the damage they say they suffered from 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 it, Thomas Fredericks, Fredericks Construction Co., Blue Mountain Storage and BTS Equipment.
There is a three-year statute of limitation for the association to be sued related to the fire, said Russell Atchley, an attorney representing the association. Atchley said March 31, 2020 was the deadline for the lawsuit to be filed.
Ross Noland, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, told the judge in March 2017 that his clients hadn't suffered any damage from the fire. Noland said damage 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.
The association has made decisions about the stump dump since the fire, which shows its involvement, said Sach Oliver, another attorney for the plaintiffs.
Karren agreed with Atchely and found that the statute of limitation had passed. Oliver said they plan to appeal it.
The association remains a party in a separate lawsuit first filed Nov. 27, 2018, on behalf of Curtis and Tiffany Macomber, and their two children. Stacey Lewis, Bart Lewis, Norvil Lantz and Mary Joan Lantz were added March 14, 2019, as plaintiffs.
Kim Carlson, the association's director of marketing and communications, estimated the cost to put out the fire 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.
Karren recently accepted a $3 million settlement that ended another lawsuit concerning the fire.
Association members Michael and Amie Armstrong filed the lawsuit in December 2019 against former board members.
The lawsuit argues the former board members were aware the association was using the site as an unmonitored dump and didn't try to stop the dumping of prohibited items for a fee from January 2004 to December 2016. It was filed to make the insurance company provide the coverage according to its policy.
Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance agreed to pay $2 million to the association and $1 million in attorney fees, according to Jason Wales, an attorney for the Armstrongs.