By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
The State Court of Appeals threw out the latest legal objection to a high-altitude balloon-launching facility in Pima County, saying challengers waited too long to sue.
In a unanimous ruling Monday, a three-judge panel concluded that three individuals represented by the Goldwater Institute do have legal standing to contest a no-bid contract awarded by Pima County to design and build a facility for World View.
The judges said the allegations that the contract was an illegal expenditure of public dollars was sufficient to give them their day in court.
But the judges declined to decide the merits of the claim.
Appellate Judge Karl Epplich, writing the decision, pointed out that the architect and the contractor already had been paid. More to the point, the judge noted that the facility is complete.
And Epplich said it’s no one’s fault but the Goldwater Institute that the case cannot go forward.
