City of Trinidad and Tsurai Ancestral Society make progress on 2015 settlement

Attorneys for The Tsurai Ancestral Society and City of Trinidad appeared before Judge Dale Reinholtzen  on February 23, 2016 to review progress being made by the City to complete obligations  the City agreed to in order to settle a lawsuit filed by the Tsurai Ancestral Society and individual Tsurai members in 2010.  The settlement agreement was signed by both parties and filed with the Court on August 24, 2015.   

The Tsurai hoped a trial would not be necessary, and has worked diligently to assist the City in completing the settlement conditions within the given time frame of one (1) year.  Unfortunately, none of the stipulated terms of settlement have been met. The City budgeted 20,000 to the site, but has yet to use any funding to do projects such as create a vegetation management plan, or design signage to clearly mark trails.  

Based on this, the Tsurai Ancestral Society and individual plaintiffs requested that the case be set for a jury trial in October. Judge Reinholtzen agreed and set the case for trial on October 17, 2016. It is estimated by the parties that the trial will be 3 to 4 weeks in length.   

 When, and if, the City of Trinidad renews its commitment to honor the terms of the August 24, 2015 settlement agreement by finalizing projects to which it has agreed, the plaintiffs will be open to dismissing the lawsuit.

Information regarding the lawsuit and the settlement agreement is available on the City’s website. The Tsurai Ancestral Society and the other plaintiffs in the case, encourage the residents of Trinidad to become familiar with this litigation and transmit any questions or concerns to the Trinidad City Council and staff.