MORGANTOWN — Monongalia County Commissioner Ed Hawkins and his siblings, Terry Hawkins and Linda Dimmick, filed a motion requesting the dismissal of a lawsuit over a lease dispute.
The dismissal motion argues the plaintiff — Morgantown Shrine Club and Mountaineer Patrol — is not a legal entity and has no legal capacity to file a lawsuit. The motion also argues there is a lack of jurisdiction and a failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
The original lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating a contract signed in 1986 by the Hawkins’ parents, both of whom are deceased, which allowed use of the family’s property by the nonprofit organization for a period of 99 years.
Searches of the West Virginia Secretary of State did not appear to be related to any activities of any local organizations known to use the property, according to the dismissal motion.
According to the motion, the plaintiff, which stated it was a nonprofit in its filing, is welcome to show the documents proving it as such, but if it cannot prove its legal status, there is no standing for the suit.
The defendants want the lease agreement terminated due to violation of the lease terms and wishes the proper parties named so counterclaims can be filed.
According to the original filing, Ed Hawkins, the executor of his mother’s estate, sent a letter to the plaintiff on Monongalia County Commission letterhead in April imposing restrictions or obligations not in the original lease agreement pertaining to access for both the plaintiff and defendants and the payment of real estate taxes.
The suit requests injunctive relief to prevent further intervention by the defendants and says the actions of the defendants amounts to tortious interference as it is “malicious and deliberate.”
The suit says the defendants are in breach of the original contract and seeking unjust enrichment by asking for property tax payments not provided for in the 1986 agreement.
The Mountaineer Patrol is a unit of the Morgantown Shrine Club that participates in parades and other public events.
