Loveland receives $599K settlement

LOVELAND – The City of Loveland has received a payment of $599,000 to settle a long-standing lawsuit involved a local business that received monetary incentives from the city in 2008.

A technology firm called Colorado vNet received $900,000 from the City of Loveland as an incentive to expand its business in Loveland and to provide 250 high-paying jobs. The original contract required Colorado vNet to reimburse the city if those jobs were not created by 2012.

In 2009, Colorado vNet sold all of its assets and assigned its performance obligations to another company without the city’s consent, according to a release from the City of Loveland.

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Since then, the city has been seeking reimbursement from Colorado vNet under the original contract, which required Colorado vNet to pay the city $2,000 for each of the 250 jobs not created.

In October, Larimer County District Court awarded the city a $500,000 judgement against Colorado vNet and its owners, William and Lynda Beierwaltes. The court also ordered the Beierwalteses to pay interest of $107,358, plus the city’s attorney fees and court costs.

The Beierwalteses appealed this decision in November, but as part of the Court of Appeals’ appeal process, the parties engaged in settlement negotiations beginning last February.

These negotiations resulted in a $599,000 settlement payment last week from the Beierwalteses to the city. The City of Loveland paid about $53,000 in attorney fees and costs during the litigation.