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Losing bidder sues Tooele County & Chinese company over planned sale of Miller Motorsports Park

Posted at 10:45 PM, Sep 09, 2015
and last updated 2015-09-10 03:02:33-04

TOOELE COUNTY, Utah — Several weeks after it was announced Tooele County intended to sell the Miller Motorsports Park to a company who will operate it under the new name Utah Motorsports Campus, one of the losing bidders has filed a lawsuit alleging the sale is illegal.

Andrew Cartwright of Center Point Management LLC confirms to FOX 13 News Wednesday night they filed a lawsuit against Tooele County and Mitime, which is a subsidiary of the Chinese company Geely.

Cartwright said his company offered $27 million to purchase the facility, and he alleges the county broke the law in agreeing to sell to Mitime for about $20 million.

The lawsuit states the county solicited several bids and that, “Mitime’s bid was the lowest of all bids received.”

The lawsuit further alleges, “The sale, however, is unlawful. By basing its decision on future benefits of uncertain value, the County violated local ordinances and state law that prohibit the sale of County-owned property for anything less than full and adequate consideration. By its unlawful conduct, the County, moreover, deprived Center Point of fair and lawful consideration of its competing bid.”

The lawsuit asks the court to enjoin or set aside the sale.

Officials with Tooele County have previously responded to concerns about selling to a company offering less than other buyers, and in August they stated they viewed the additional investments promised by the company as being an incentive to go with Mitime.

“One specific number they threw in during the negotiations was 270 million dollars of additional investment in the property itself over the next decade,” said Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne in August.