12/9/2005 3:21:00 PM No contempt, but judge sets high-dollar conditions for SSNW
By Steven J. Barry
Leader Staff Writer
The ongoing land use battle between Security Services Northwest and Jefferson County ratcheted up Friday afternoon with a new court order requiring SSNW to post $20,000 cash for each employee it trains for firearms certification.
The cash would be returned so long as the company could prove that the shooting is related to routine firearms qualifications its security personnel need to keep their jobs.
Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser issued the order during a hearing for a motion of contempt filed by county attorney Mark Johnsen. He had accused SSNW of conducting large-scale counter assault team (CAT) training at “Fort Discovery,” SSNW's private firing-range center near Gardiner.
SSNW President Joe D'Amico admitted during a land-use hearing last month that his company had trained 37 new CAT employees to prepare them for a deployment to Mississippi, where they now guard a cruise ship housing hurricane evacuees. However, D'Amico said the training was related only to a basic firearms qualification course.
Judge Verser denied Johnsen's request for a finding of civil contempt, as well as his request to dole out a “coercive” fine to the company to prevent them from shooting at Fort Discovery. But he did say that SSNW had abused a clause in an Oct. 17 court order that allows it to train replacement employees. Verser said he had imagined that would be a “fairly rare thing” and not something the size of the pre-deployment training.
“I don't believe that the training going on out there was for replacement employees,” Judge Verser said.
SSNW attorney John Devlin argued that Johnsen and the county were simply trying to sink the company.
“Have no illusions, your honor: They want to shut down that business, and they want to do it now,” said Devlin, who later said he was pleased Verser rejected the motion for contempt.
Hearing Examiner Irv Berteig is expected to decide in January 2006 whether Fort Discovery is “grandfathered” out of county zoning requirements. If Berteig decides they are, SSNW would be able to resume larger-scale firearms training at the facility, which is located in an area zoned for rural residential use.
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