Note: Oklahoma state auditor Gary Jones and the CLO are obligated to protect the public interest in Lake Texoma State Park which was wrongfully privatized in 2008. Pointe Vista is attempting residential development at Chickasaw Pointe. This and their petition for a new Rural Water and Sewer District to serve their residential rental project should be rejected by the state.
The Commissioners of the Land Office law suit against Pointe Vista for breach of contract is about a lot more than just replacing the former state park lodge.
It was surprising to learn that state auditor Gary Jones referred to a possible “new agreement or contract” with Pointe Vista. That’s not what their lawsuit is seeking.
The CLO independent counsel argued on May 16th that “specific performance” was not a valid legal remedy for the state since Pointe Vista’s contract called for the hotel to be completed in less than two weeks on May 28. Since Pointe Vista hadn’t even started construction, the state argued that an order to complete the project within some reasonable time frame was meaningless.
They argued that if the only remedy was to go forward with the project after six years of delays which were all Pointe Vista’s fault, that such a remedy was unconstitutional under Oklahoma state law.
For that reason, CLO attorneys requested two additional remedies. They requested all court costs to be paid by the defendant. And they requested the right to rescission, or to rescind the original land sales to Pointe Vista as if they had never taken place. Nowhere in their court filings did CLO attorneys request a new contract with Pointe Vista.
Since the suit was filed against them last January, Pointe Vista announced plans to reconfigure Chickasaw Pointe Golf Course to make way for private rental housing. This golf course is federally-protected under the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act. The CLO is in the best position to protect this public recreational asset by ordering Pointe Vista to stop their construction and restore the golf course to it’s original configuration.
Pointe Vista is attempting to invest in private residential housing so that they can argue in Oklahoma County District Court that they should be allowed to keep the Area A land parcel based on their extensive investment in the property. They gave up on the 1,022 acres of Area C and they are likely willing to return Area B, the land south of the highway. But their compromise fall back position in the courts will be to keep Area A. This loss to the public trust is entirely preventable.
All it will take to lose Area A is for auditor Jones, Governor Mary Fallin and the rest of the CLO and their attorneys to allow Pointe Vista to go forward with their construction. If they do, we will likely lose all of Lake Texoma State Park north of US Hwy 70.
Rather than asking the public to share our “feelings” Mr. Jones should be seeking to protect the public’s state and federal investment in this park land. He has a reputation for standing up against corruption and now is a good time to take a stand in defense of the public trust.
