CONTACTS 
0201 - O-0395 0301 Department of Natural      406 444 6699 fax   406 444 6721
020101 - Ms. Sarah Bond,
020102 - Legal Department

SUBJECTS
Sletten claim settlement
Review draft agreement
Contract Disputes, Notice Provisions

0705 -    ..
0706 - Summary/Objective
0707 -
070701 - This reviews the current settlement agreement document proposed by        - This reviews the current settlement agreement document proposed by
070702 - Sletten, ref DRP 7.                                                       - Sletten, ref DRP 7.
070703 -                                                                           -
070704 - I will set out below comments on the draft, and then prepare the          - I will set out below comments on the draft, and then prepare the
070705 - agreement as I believe it should be promulgated to protect the            - agreement as I believe it should be promulgated to protect the
070706 - interests of DNRC.                                                        - interests of DNRC.
070707 -                                                                           - interests of DNRC.
070708 -                                                                           - interests of DNRC.
0708 -
0709 -
0710 - General
0711 -
071101 - I believe the present form of the agreement wanders a bit  whereas it
071102 - would be helpful to state clearly the settlement objective, the
071103 - specific parts of the contract being amended, the scope statement,
071104 - and thats it.  The rest of the contract language will then apply.
071105 - The advantage is that the contract language has been litigated and
071106 - has a generally accepted meaning.  It also has a performance record
071107 - to show how it has been applied.  The amended language is less
071108 - definitive.
071109 -
071110 - There are a number of gramatical errors in the current draft that
071111 - will be corrected upon careful review by the parties, and so these
071112 - are not addressed here.
071113 -
071114 - I incorporate my comments issued under ref DCP 2  and urge careful
071115 - consideration.
071116 -
0712 -
0713 -
0714 - Proposed revised Settlement Agreement, DCT 1.
0715 -
071501 - Attached is an alternative view of the agreement that strives to
071502 - preserve DNRC's options under the contract, while forclosing the
071503 - claims.
071504 -
071505 - Strategically, we want to force the hand of the other party to inform
071506 - us of any matters being held back.  The following language would
071507 - provide a basis in the event of future litigation to argue that
071508 - matters withheld should not be actionable.  I have also crafted the
071509 - thing to leave DNRC maximum manuverability.  If this is accepted,
071510 - fine.  If not, then we give ground point by point to the extent DNRC
071511 - feels it can do so.
071512 -
071513 -
0716 -
0717 - Proposed transmittal remarks to Sletten
0718 -
071801 - Dear Marty,
071802 -
071803 - The Department has carefully reviewed Sletten's proposed settlement
071804 - agreement.  I believe we are very close on this.  The Director has
071805 - indicated some concerns which are reflected in the attached settlement
071806 - position.
071807 -
071808 - The primary concern is that the agreement does not clearly set out
071809 - understandings with Mr. Sletten in the meeting on March 17, that DNRC
071810 - would get a complete job for a lump sum amount of $7.225M.  This is
071811 - probably my fault; trying to cover every base  I forgot "home plate."
071812 - In any case the attached draft is the Department's position on
071813 - settlement.
071814 -
071815 - If Sletten believes it cannot provide a complete job for the $7.225M
071816 - then please indicate on the attached list of changes (Appendix "A" of
071817 - the Settlement Agreement), those matters not included and the amount
071818 - you will require to perform.  Sletten should also disclose any
071819 - potential claims Sletten feels may not be covered by the agreement
071820 - and the amounts of same.  This will inform us of what the settlement
071821 - means and focus our attention on bridging any major differences.  We
071822 - want to do this right away so as not to hold up payment to Sletten of
071823 - the $225,000.
071824 -
071825 -
0719 -
0720 -