NNMC News:

Española — Northern New Mexico College has resolved a lawsuit over the development of dormitories on the College campus.

The College agreed to pay a developer $126,500 to settle the developer’s claims for unpaid invoices. The agreement completely resolves all issues between Northern and the developer. Northern’s President Rick Bailey said that the College “obtained an advantageous settlement of the dispute, and we are pleased to put it behind us.”

The lawsuit concerned a proposed project for on-campus dormitories. In 2013, Northern retained Indiana-based Monument LLC to be the developer for the project. However, in 2014 the project stalled because it did not receive approval by State regulatory agencies. In 2015, Northern filed a lawsuit against Monument, disputing invoices Monument submitted totaling nearly $650,000, including interest. Northern claimed that the invoices were excessive and not authorized by law. Monument filed counterclaims back against the College for breach of contract and other allegations. 

In April 2018, the First Judicial Court in Santa Fe dismissed the bulk of Monument’s claims and significantly narrowed the contract claim. The parties proceeded to a trial in the week of May 7, 2018 but reached a settlement agreement during trial.