Manager clings to The Peaks

AMERICAN FORK — A 4th District Court judge declined Tuesday to evict the manager of The Peaks Ice Arena and award possession of the 2002 Winter Olympic venue to the landlords, Utah County and Provo city.

Instead, Judge Derek Pullan crafted a ruling designed to force Seven Peaks Management Co. to comply with a September court order to deposit with the court $191,000 in outstanding rent while the county and city pursue a lawsuit to terminate Seven Peaks' lease.

Pullan said he would award possession of the building to the Provo City/Utah County Ice Sheet Authority if it posts a $3.5 million bond with the court and Seven Peaks then fails to deposit the rent money within 10 days.

Before the hearing, attorneys for the Ice Sheet Authority rejected an offer from Seven Peaks manager Max Rabner to pay $95,000 by today and the rest of the rent money for 2003 and 2004 by March 30 in exchange for a guarantee the lease would be reinstated.

The offer was too little, too late and continued a pattern of postponing payments to the last minute, said Jesse Trentadue, an attorney representing the Ice Sheet Authority.

Rabner said the refusal was part of an attempted hostile takeover.

"They continued to demonstrate they're not interested in the money," Rabner said after the ruling. "All they want is possession."

Rabner and the Ice Sheet Authority board, chaired by Provo Mayor Lewis Billings, have battled since 1998, when Rabner donated land for the future Olympic site in exchange for a lease to operate the arena for up to 42 years. He now estimates his investment at nearly $3.5 million.

The feud came to a head when Rabner presented his annual rent payment for 2003 on April 3 of that year. He said a Provo official told him the check for $95,907.88 would be deposited on April 7 and Rabner planned to deposit funds in the account on April 8.

Instead, a Provo employee attempted to obtain a cashier's check on April 7 and was told the funds weren't available. That evening, a Provo city attorney sent a letter of default and terminated the lease. The Ice Sheet Authority later filed suit seeking Rabner's eviction.

"We're exercising our rights under the contract," Trentadue said.

Rabner said he didn't make the 2004 rent payment because of the pending suit.

"If they had just deposited the check, we wouldn't be here," Seven Peaks attorney David Pinkston argued Tuesday. "The 2003 check did not bounce. It was presented to the bank absolutely contrary to representations made to Mr. Rabner by the Ice Sheet Authority."