By Mark Scheer
A long-time critic of Maid of the Mist Corp. is vowing to fight an Albany County judge’s decision to dismiss his challenge of an agreement between the tour boat operator and the New York State Office of Parks.
Atlanta businessman William Windsor, who filed a lawsuit in an attempt to void Maid’s 40-year concession agreement with the state, said he will file a motion to vacate the order of State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi who on Monday dismissed Windsor’s claim as untimely. Windsor maintains that Teresi made a “key error in the facts” in the case.
“I hope the judge realizes his error,” Windsor said. “If not, I will appeal.”
In a ruling issued earlier this week, Teresi determined that Windsor missed his opportunity to challenge Maid’s New York state concession agreement.
The deal was awarded to Maid of the Mist in 2002 without a formal bid process. State parks officials have since argued it was not necessary for them to solicit bids for the lease because Maid of the Mist is considered a “sole-source provider” of tour boat operations on the Niagara River near Niagara Falls.
Teresi dismissed Windsor’s claim on the basis of timeliness, ruling that he failed to meet a four-month statute of limitations placed on challenges to the licensing agreement. In his ruling, Teresi said the start date for the statute of limitations was the date of the signing of the lease — Sept. 10, 2002. As a result, Teresi determined that Windsor had until Nov. 20, 2009, to issue a challenge.
“Since the petition was commenced more than four months after the lease was signed by the Maid and the state, it is untimely and must be dismissed,” Teresi’s decision reads.
Teresi also deemed Windsor’s complaints about “fraud, misrepresentation, conspiracy and a violation of due process” on the part of certain Maid officials as untimely, saying they were not raised within the six-year statute of limitations for commencement of such proceedings.
Maid of the Mist Vice President Tim Ruddy said the ruling speaks for itself.
“We are pleased that yet another legal decision has confirmed that the Maid of the Mist’s business is completely legitimate and we look forward to once again hosting millions of Niagara Falls visitors on both sides of the border this summer,” he said.
Windsor insists that he isn’t through with the case. He disagrees with Teresi’s finding that the statute of limitations had passed, arguing that the timing of the statute should be based on his discovery of issues related to the issuance of the licensing agreement.
“The facts before the court show that I was unaware of any fraud until April 1, 2009, despite numerous requests to obtain copies of the documents,” Windsor said. “If you file legal requests for production of documents, freedom of information requests, and contact everyone you can think of and can't get a copy of the document, then you cannot possible know there is fraud. The clock cannot start ticking on the two year fraud statute of limitations until April 1, 2009.”
