Bar J Sand & Gravel, Inc. v. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co.

310 F. Supp. 3d 1215
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedApril 23, 2018
DocketNo. Civ. 15–228 SCY/KK
StatusPublished

This text of 310 F. Supp. 3d 1215 (Bar J Sand & Gravel, Inc. v. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bar J Sand & Gravel, Inc. v. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., 310 F. Supp. 3d 1215 (D.N.M. 2018).

Opinion

Steven C. Yarbrough, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiff Bar J Sand & Gravel, Inc.'s ("Bar J") Motion for Partial Declaratory Summary Judgment. Doc. 103. In this motion, Bar J asks the Court to find as a matter of law that the Exclusive Supply Agreement ("ESA") entered into between Bar J and Defendant Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. ("Fisher") on June 28, 2007 was renewed for a second five-year term in 2012. Having considered the motion, the briefing, accompanying evidence, and the relevant law, the Court concludes that the ESA was not renewed and therefore expired on June 28, 2012. Accordingly, Bar J's Motion (Doc. 103) is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

1. The Exclusive Supply Agreement (ESA)

In 1996, Plaintiff Bar J acquired an exclusive right to excavate, remove and sell aggregate earth products, remove asphalt, and to process material on land located within the Pueblo of San Felipe. See ESA at 1 (Doc. 6-1). In 2007, Bar J entered into the ESA with Defendant Fisher that forms the basis of this lawsuit. Id. Under the ESA, Bar J agreed to sell materials removed from the Pueblo to Fisher on an exclusive basis and Fisher in turn agreed to purchase a minimum quantity of material from Bar J each year. ESA ¶ 1. The ESA further provided Fisher with the right "to use the [p]remises for the purpose of excavating, processing ... and removing the specified minimums." ESA ¶ 5.

*1218The initial term of the ESA was a period of five years commencing on June 28, 2007, the effective date of the ESA. ESA ¶ 4. As set forth in Section 1 of the ESA, the amount of material Fisher was required to purchase from Bar J incrementally increased each year, with the annual minimum tonnage requirement reaching 400,000 tons in 2012. ESA ¶ 1. Section 6 of the ESA, entitled "Payments", detailed the "rate" (i.e., the amount per ton of material) that Fisher was obligated to pay Bar J throughout the course of the ESA. See ESA ¶ 6.

The ESA further provided Fisher with the option to renew the ESA for an additional five years after the completion of the initial five-year term. ESA ¶ 4. As set forth in Section 4 of the ESA, this provision stated that in order to exercise the renewal option,

on or before one hundred twenty (120) days before the expiration of the Term, [Fisher] shall deliver written notice of its intention to exercise the renewal option to [Bar J]. If [Fisher] does not exercise its renewal option within the prescribed time, this Agreement will terminate at the expiration of the Term. In all matters relating to renewal [Fisher] shall contact and negotiate exclusively with [Bar J], and not the Pueblo or governmental agencies. The terms and conditions of this Agreement for the Renewal Term shall remain the same except that all payments shall be subject to renegotiation.

See ESA ¶ 4. In the event Fisher exercised the renewal option, the ESA stated that minimum tonnage requirements during the renewal term would be as follows: 400,000 tons of material annually from January 1, 2012 until December 31, 2013, and 500,000 tons of material annually from January 1, 2014 until expiration of the renewal term. ESA ¶ 1. With regard to payments during the renewal term, the ESA provided that the "[p]ayments to be applicable during the [r]enewal [t]erm shall be subject to renegotiation by the parties, provided that in no event shall the payments be lower during the [r]enewal [p]eriod than it is on the date the renewal period begins." ESA ¶ 6.

Because the ESA provides that it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with New Mexico law (ESA ¶ 29), the Court will apply New Mexico law.

2. Relevant Facts2

The events that led to the filing of this federal suit began in 2012, the final year of the ESA's initial term, and bear on whether Fisher exercised the ESA's renewal option. Since the initial term of the ESA was set to expire on June 28, 2012, Fisher was required under the ESA to "deliver written notice of its intention to exercise the renewal option" to Bar J by February 28, 2012, which was 120 days prior to expiration of the initial term.3 See ESA ¶ 4.

Fisher alleges that in late 2011 and early 2012, it began experiencing reduced sales volumes in part due to a downturn in the market. See Tommy Fisher Depo., January 21, 2016, 49:21-52:25 (Doc. 138-1). Fisher alleges that its president, Tommy Fisher, met with Ted Martinez, vice president of Bar J, in early 2012 to discuss these issues.

*1219Id. at 51:22-54:8. Mr. Fisher testified that he told Mr. Martinez during this meeting that Fisher was "going to be way off in 2012" with regard to the minimum tonnage requirement, that Fisher expected to purchase "around 150,000 [tons]" in 2012, and that Mr. Martinez told him to "do the best you can." Id. at 52:19-22, 53:13, 53:24-54:1, 160:25-161:2. Mr. Fisher testified that Mr. Martinez informed him that reducing the minimum tonnage requirement going forward would "not [be] an issue ... because [Bar J] was not paying minimums" to the Pueblo, but that Bar J was unable to "do anything" with regard to royalty rate payments. Id. at 154:20-25; 202:24-203:1 (Doc. 136-1). Mr. Fisher testified that he believed Mr. Martinez had agreed to a reduction in the minimum tonnage requirements going forward. Id.

Although Mr. Martinez denies telling Mr. Fisher in 2012 that it would be okay to reduce the tonnage requirement to 150,000 tons annually going forward (Martinez Depo. 112:10-18), he testified in his deposition that he did not remember having any conversations regarding the minimums in 2012 (Id. 113:16-18), that he did not remember if Mr. Fisher told him in 2012 that Fisher would only continue its relationship with Bar J if the royalty or the mandatory minimums were reduced (Id. 110:8-15), did not remember if he told Mr. Fisher that Bar J would reduce the mandatory minimums going forward (Id. 110:21-111:23), and did not remember if he told Mr. Fisher that Bar J was not able to renegotiate the mandatory minimums (Id. 112:21-24). See Ted Martinez Depo., January 19, 2016, (Doc. 136-4).

On March 27, 2012, Michael Moehn, a vice president of Fisher, sent an email regarding renewal of the ESA to Tommy Fisher, Tim Priebe (Fisher's general counsel), and David Olson (vice president of Fisher's New Mexico operations). Doc. 103-3. He stated in the email:

Per the attached lease we are to send written notice to Bar J at least 120 days prior to expiration. Dave talked to Louie4 a little bit ago and he said to get with Frank (Ted's CFO) on what to put in the notice. Dave just talked to Frank and he said he had to get with Louie and Ted to see if they wanted to renegotiate anything to do with Minimums and Royalty (those are both too high). Technically, both of those are still spelled out through 2015 in the lease. Should we just send a notice over that we intend to renew anyway? They have never screwed with us before, so I don't think they will now, but technically we are only 90 days out from expiration .

Doc. 103-3 (emphasis added); see also Louis Jacques Aff., Doc.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Becker v. Bateman
709 F.3d 1019 (Tenth Circuit, 2013)
Garcia v. Sonoma Ranch East II, L.L.C.
2013 NMCA 42 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2013)
Lenscrafters, Inc. v. Kehoe
2012 NMSC 20 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2012)
Palenick v. City of Rio Rancho
2013 NMSC 029 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2013)
Shirley v. Venaglia
527 P.2d 316 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1974)
Master Builders, Inc. v. Cabbell
622 P.2d 276 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1980)
Easterling v. Peterson
753 P.2d 902 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1988)
Cillessen v. Kona Company
387 P.2d 867 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1964)
CC Housing Corp. v. Ryder Truck Rental, Inc.
746 P.2d 1109 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1987)
Skarda v. Davis
491 P.2d 1153 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1971)
Fun Products Distributors, Inc. v. Martens
559 P.2d 1054 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1977)
United Properties Ltd. v. Walgreen Properties, Inc.
2003 NMCA 140 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2003)
Brannock v. Brannock
722 P.2d 636 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1986)
Burke v. Permian Ford-Lincoln-Mercury
621 P.2d 1119 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1981)
State Ex Rel. State Highway Commission v. Gray
467 P.2d 725 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1970)
J.R. Hale Contracting Co. v. United New Mexico Bank
799 P.2d 581 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1990)
Securities & Exchange Commission v. Thompson
732 F.3d 1151 (Tenth Circuit, 2013)
Otero v. City of Albuquerque
158 P. 798 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1916)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
310 F. Supp. 3d 1215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bar-j-sand-gravel-inc-v-fisher-sand-gravel-co-nmd-2018.