Deadlines for Dickinson Elks Building suits set

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A judge wants a decision made on a two-year-old case involving a fire that destroyed the Historic Dickinson Elks Building in 2007.

Judge H. Patrick Weir said he likely would not grant extensions in the case during a hearing at the Stark County Courthouse Tuesday.

High Ball Construction used a cutting torch that led to a fire in the Elks Building and firefighting efforts damaged the neighboring Wells Fargo, leaving it unusable, according to court records and previous articles.

Dickinson Elks Building LLC, which owns the building brought suit against High Ball in 2009, alleging negligence or a breach in warranties, according to court documents.

Dickinson Elks Building requests High Ball pay no less than $850,000 plus the cost of their attorney and prosecution, according to court records.

Wells Fargo brought suit against High Ball and Dickinson Elks Building, alleging both were negligent, according to court records.

A specific amount was not requested in the complaint.

“We’ve sued two other companies, plus we’ve made a cross claim against Dickinson Elks Building LLC in the Wells Fargo case,” Shawn Grinolds, an attorney representing High Ball, said after the hearing.

High Ball is alleging New Care Development and New Care Construction were involved in the work which caused the fire, according to court documents.

How much money they are suing for is unclear.

“I don’t really know if that’s ever been hammered out exactly — the total dollar amount being requested,” Grinolds said.

A pretrial conference is Oct. 24 and a trial is set for

Nov. 28.

Attorney David Schweigert, who represented Wells Fargo, Paul Ebeltoft, who represented Dickinson Elk’s Building, the New Care companies, as well as Grinolds aired concerns over having their cases ready on time.

Ebeltoft is having scheduling issues with witnesses.

“I have some concerns, but otherwise, it’s too early to say the sky is falling,” he said.

Grinolds said flooding in Bismarck may impact work on the case.

Schweigert wants more time to prepare his expert

witnesses.

“They may raise something that my experts have not addressed,” he said.

Weir reiterated he will not likely give extensions.

Granville “Beaver” Brinkman is a managing member of the Dickinson Elks Building and president of New Care, according to a previous Press article.

City officials have given him a June 30 deadline to finish renovations on the building. Brinkman is also allegedly indebted hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractors, according to a previous Press article.

However, a “stop work” order was posted on the building March 9 because Brinkman has not paid for a building permit, according to a previous Press article.

The notice was still in place Tuesday.

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