Benton County moves to hire outside counsel on disputed airport hangar leases; related settlements approved

Benton County Commissioners on July 15 addressed a contested set of airport hangar leases and related vendor claims. A resolution to reaffirm hangar lease agreements with Darrell Berry (20240715-16) was pulled by sponsors and not voted on; commissioners then approved a separate measure (20240715-17) authorizing Mayor Mark Ward to retain the Harris Shelton law firm to negotiate and litigate as needed regarding the Berry/Airport issues.

The vote to retain outside counsel passed 15 Aye, 2 No (Commissioners Arnold and Hall), 1 Absent. Commissioners and sponsors cited ongoing disputes about the validity of certain agreements at the Benton County Airport as the reason to secure legal representation. Mayor Ward described the retention as necessary "for negotiation and litigation, as needed, on behalf of the Benton County Commission regarding the Berry/Airport issues." The commission also approved two related financial resolutions: accepting a reduced payment offer from Hethcoat Davis ($18,834.98) to close an outstanding engineering account (20240715-19) and approving a negotiated settlement with World Fuel for $7,500 to resolve remaining obligations on a contract (20240715-20); both measures passed on roll call votes.

Resolution 20240715-16 (the lease-reaffirmation in exchange for relinquishment of the main hangar) was explicitly pulled by sponsors and did not receive a vote. Commissioners who voted against retaining counsel did not have their dissent expanded upon in the transcript; the record shows the two "No" votes were cast by Commissioners Arnold and Hall. The county instructed staff to move forward with hiring counsel and implementing approved settlements where directed.