Council to Consider Gold Line Lawsuit Settlement in Special Meeting

Attorneys are working to finalize a settlement agreement to resolve a $106 million lawsuit filed against Monrovia by the developers of the Station Square Transit Village development, a city official said Tuesday.

Monrovia City Manager Laurie Lile told the City Council during its regular meeting Tuesday that the city could have an agreement finalized Friday and asked that the council schedule a special public meeting Monday to review the proposed settlement.

"If we are able to finalize all the documents tomorrow as we are hopeful that we can do then we will have some ability for the public to review those documents before council acts on them," Lile said.

Developer Samuelson & Fetter sued Monrovia in August 2012 and alleged that the city violated an agreement that gave the firm the rights to commercially develop the Station Square Transit Village on land near the future Monrovia Gold Line station.

The city has maintained that Samuelson & Fetter breached the contract itself and Lile has said the lawsuit "threatens to unravel the fabric of the community in search of an unrealistic profit on the backs of our residents."