FLEMINGTON -- A citizens group trying preserve the historic Union Hotel has reached a settlement agreement with the borough regarding two lawsuits dealing with requests for public records.
Friends of Historic Flemington filed the lawsuits in September 2016 and March of this year. The lawsuits claimed the borough violated the Open Public Records Act.
Gary Schotland, trustee for the Friends of Historic Flemington, said the borough has supplied the group with requested documents and has agreed to reimburse the group $5,000 for attorney fees in a mutual settlement agreement.
Flemington Mayor Phil Greiner said that as of May, the borough has paid $28,000 in legal fees for the four lawsuits filed against the borough by Friends of Historic Flemington.
Greiner said that while the legal fees are expensive, "They are not affecting the timeline of our project."
The Friends of Historic Flemington filed another lawsuit in April regarding how the borough has conducted meetings and how it has approved plans for the renovation of the circa-1878 historic Union Hotel.
The redevelopment plan includes a 100-room hotel, 250 housing units and a 900-car parking garage, along with restaurants, retail stores and a college.
The borough and other defendants are pursuing a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case. The original deadline, July 7, has been extended twice and is now set for Sept. 1.
Erin Simone, an attorney for the Friends of Historic Flemington, said they requested an audio recording of the June 5 planning meeting for the redevelopment project, to use in the summary judgement hearing.
"The transcriber couldn't hear (the tape). She couldn't hear the words to transcribe it," Simone said.
Simone said they requested an enhanced audio recording which the borough supplied Friday morning.
Simone said the judge granted another extension on the summary judgement to Sept. 1 to provide the attorneys with sufficient time to obtain a transcript of the meeting to use in the summary judgement hearing.
Angela Lingg may be reached at alingg@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @angela_lingg. Find NJ.com on Facebook.