XPLEX lawsuits headed to courts (07/05/08)

The owner of a former sports park is set to face two lawsuits in Jay Circuit Court this summer.

Bench trials have been scheduled for July 16 and Aug. 11 for civil plenary and civil collections suits filed against Glynn Barber, who formerly operated XPLEX Extreme Competition Park.

Hoosier Excavating LLC filed a civil collections suit against Barber, his park and Portland Economic Development Corporatio in April of 2006, and Meshberger Brothers Stone Corporation filed a suit against Barber and XPLEX in November of 2006.

Meshberger Brothers officials contend that Barber allegedly failed to pay for stone purchased for the park project. The company is asking for $13,762.62 to cover the cost of the stone. The bench trial for this case is set to begin July 16 at 9 a.m.

In Barber's other suit, Hoosier Excavating officials contend that he failed to pay $847,675 for work done at the XPLEX site. Barber maintains that he fired the company for not completing the work. Hoosier Excavating also is requesting an additional $1,150 for fees for filing a mechanics lien in connection with the park.

The case will be heard by Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison in a five-day bench trial set to begin Aug. 11 at 8:30 a.m.

Repeated attempts seeking comment from Barber's attorney, John Brook, Muncie, were unsuccessful.

Barber and his now former wife Julie launched the sports park on county road 100 North, near their Portland company Qualtech Tool, in 2005. The park included rock-crawling structures, a motocross area and some ponds. He held a few events, but the park closed in 2006, while a spec building was being renovated into a paintball arena.

The city of Portland recently had to foot the bill for an erosion problem at the former park site. Dirt around one of the ponds has been eroding during heavy rains and could have flowed into rivers and streams.

The combination of unpaid bills from other contractors, the lawsuits and his pending divorce brought the park project to a standstill. He had planned to create a circle track for racing, but it was never completed.

The Barbers had leased the spec building and about 110 acres from Portland Economic Development Corporation and purchased 58 acres for the park. The lease with PEDC has since been terminated and the spec building and 110 acres have gone back to the corporation's control.

Since the park's closure, Barber has started a new machine shop in Pennville. The Barbers sold Qualtech in the spring of 2006. It is now Performance Tool.[[In-content Ad]]