Court rules in favor of Saugus rink in lease dispute

SAUGUS – A Suffolk Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the Kasabuski Rink owners Wednesday, saying that the town of Saugus “wrongfully terminated” its lease with Dan Maniff and John Curley.According to findings from Judge Geraldine S. Hines, the plaintiffs (Maniff and Curley) defaulted in certain obligations under their lease with the town, but ruled these defaults did not relate to “any material provisions of the lease.”Hines ruled that the town breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and breached its contract with the rink owners.The town argued that Maniff and Curley failed to comply with procedures for allocating ice time, charged fees in excess of those permitted in the lease, made arbitrary changes to ice time, failed to to provide monthly and fiscal year reports and failed to provide insurance for the remainder of the lease.The town terminated its contract with Maniff and Curley on July 23, 2010, claiming the owners failed to remedy these issues.Judge Hines found Maniff and Curley did in fact breach the lease provisions dealing with allocating ice time and providing monthly reporting, but said, “Neither of these breaches, however, meet the standard for a ‘material breach’ warranting a termination of the lease.”?The town’s claim was a thinly-veiled attempt to find fault with the plaintiffs’ performance regardless of the importance of the alleged non-compliance,” said Hines. “The town was under intense pressure from residents and their elected representatives to wrest control of the facility from the plaintiffs. The surest path to control was to charge the plaintiffs with a material breach of the lease ? The fact that the town’s gambit was unsuccessful does not in any way mitigate the wrongfulness of its conduct.Hines specifically mentions the insurance issue, saying that the town and the rink owners agreed that the town would assume responsibility for insurance for three years. However on June 30, 2010, Town Manager Andrew Bisignani sent an email to the owners demanding they secure their own insurance the night before the current policy was set to expire.?I find that the last-minute demand for evidence on the policy renewal was a deliberate attempt to create a further basis for default and to force concessions on the ice time allocated to Saugus Youth Hockey and Saugus High School,” said Hines.Hines also mentions selectman Chairman Scott Crabtree, saying he took on the issue as his “personal crusade on behalf of aggrieved parents.”?I find that the complaints of Saugus parents about the changes in access to their preferred ice time and selectman Crabtree’s desire to be responsive to these complaints, rather than the plaintiffs’ performance, provided the impetus for the investigation ?” said Hines.Neil Rossman, the attorney representing Maniff and Curley, called the decision a “magnificent win.”?(The town) made five charges against them that were essentially unsubstantiated and trumped up to get them out of the rink,” said Rossman. “It’s nice to be vindicated. I’ve said all along that this was pretextual, that these were trumped up allegations and that this was done for political reasons by one guy, Crabtree, in order to satisfy a constituency of his. It’s nice to be backed up by a superior court judge.”Rossman said he plans to look for a damage award for at least $18,000, which Maniff and Curley spent on their insurance policy.Special Town Counsel Ira Zaleznik said he was disappointed with the decision. He said the lease will continue on as is, but noted there are still “ongoing issues” with the owners.?I’ll have to sit down with the Board of Selectmen and go over the decision and assess what the options are,” said Zaleznik. “This decision won’t affect those ongoing issues with (the Department of Conservation and Recreation) and the town. We will continue to try and get the operators to operate as they’re supposed to do.”Multiple calls and emails to Crabtree were not returned Wednesday.Matt Tempesta can be