Wildlife West Bills Town $20K
by John Weckerle
At last week’s Town Council meeting in Edgewood, Wildlife West Nature Park’s founder and director, Roger Alink, provided a report on the summer music festival’s success and surprised the Council with a bill for $20,000 – the amount originally budgeted by the Council prior to the March election. Mr. Alink advised us that, after leaving the meeting, he was accosted verbally by local resident Janelle Turner, who repeated her objections to Town funding on the basis of noncompliance with the State anti-donation clause – a position that has been successfully refuted and has been dropped even by those in the Town administration and on the Council who raised it in the first place, as well as by the Town attorney.
Mr. Alink has indicated that three attorneys have advised him that, since the Council never officially rescinded the original funding, the Town remains obligated to pay what it originally budgeted, regardless of whether the MOU was signed or not. Mr. Alink may have a stronger case than he knows. It is a basic tenet of contract law that a contract may exist in the absence of a signed instrument when both parties behave as if there is a contract in force. In requiring the Park to undergo a fire inspection as a precondition to signing the MOU, Mayor Bob Stearley appears to have done exactly that, and to have obligated the Town to pay.
It is anybody’s guess whether the Town will pay – and if not, whether the Park will seek legal recourse. In our opinion, we feel that, especially given the budget windfalls that the Town has experienced in recent months, the Town should do the right thing, pay the bill, and then decide on a course forward with respect to future summer music festivals.
One Response “Wildlife West Bills Town $20K”
Hurrah for Mr. Alink.! Although a previous town administration had made a committment to Wildlife West, a committment wasmade! Edgewood please live up to your responsibilities!