The Utah Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal by a contractor who claimed the city of St. George violated a contract for construction at the city's airport.
The three-member panel, in a decision filed Tuesday, sided with a lower court judge who ruled that the city and Cal Wadsworth Construction had never formally entered into a contract for expansion of the airport's terminal.Wadsworth had claimed that the city accepted his as the lowest responsible bid, and that he had agreed to a later request that he trim $100,000 from the project to bring it within the city's budget.
However, appeals Judge James Z. Davis, writing for the unanimous court, ruled that the city's Jan. 19, 1991, decision to go with Wadsworth's company was conditional and that further discussions amounted to a counterproposal. The city and contractor never signed a formal contract.
The city, at that time, had reserved the right to rebid the contract and did so on Feb. 7. At that time, Wadsworth sued the city for breach of contract. When the lawsuit was rejected in the district court, he appealed.
Telephone calls to Wadsworth's attorney, Stanford P. Fitts, and St. George City Attorney Ted Shumway, were not immediately returned Friday.