Town of Burns to evict Rustic Plate restaurant

Dec. 21—CHEYENNE — The value of proper communication was highlighted in the case of the Town of Burns v. The Rustic Plate, but the outcome was permission for the town to evict the local restaurant.

"I listened carefully to see if I could hear some sort of something, but there wasn't," Laramie County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Lee said Thursday. "It was a miscommunication. It was only a miscommunication, and it's a shame."

In October, Ashley Osterman, the owner of The Rustic Plate, received a notice to quit from the town stating that she must leave the property by Oct. 8 because she refused to sign the contract the town had offered her. Osterman did not comply because she said it was not the contract that she had been promised by Burns Mayor James Clark for more than a year and a half.

Lee said he doesn't have the authority to force the Town of Burns to offer any lease to a tenant in one of their buildings, and he did not see evidence for promissory estoppel, meaning that Osterman would have had a right to the contract she was promised, rather than the one she was presented with.

The judge issued a Writ of Restitution, which will be available to the town officials by Jan. 5, authorizing the tenant's removal from the property. However, Lee said he fully expects this ruling to be appealed before that date. If it is, Osterman will be required to continue to pay the rent to the town without an official lease.

Between delays and continuations, the legal proceedings have been going on for months. Thursday's final decision began with Osterman taking the witness stand and answering questions from Greg Hacker, an attorney representing the town of Burns, and Bruce Asay, her lawyer.

"Even though your money was returned to you, and you had communications with town officials, you refused to vacate the property," Hacker said to Osterman. He was referring to a hand-revised lease that she had submitted to the town with rent payment, per the advice of her legal counsel.

The main change she made was to remove a clause designating the property as a community center. This restriction means the town may rent the building out to the public at any time, and the loss of wages or revenue is Osterman's responsibility, along with the added liability for her equipment and supplies. It was placed in the contract of the building when the Masonic Lodge of Burns donated the land to the town in 1988, requiring whatever building that was built there be a community center. This clause can only be removed if approved by the members of the lodge.

Osterman said Mayor Clark had made promises to her over the past year and a half that he would have that clause removed. Earlier this year, the lodge had voted to remove the clause from the contract. Clark presented the paperwork to Bill Arnold, Master of the Lodge, on Sept. 4 for approval and requested he return it by the end of the month.

Arnold signed the documents before the end of September, and Clark said he had received multiple phone calls from Arnold saying they were ready to be picked up. The mayor did not finalize the removal of the clause because the restaurant had no contract signed at that point. Osterman had refused to sign a one-month lease extension with the clause still in it to allow the lodge and the town more time to sort out the lease paperwork.

"I knew about it, but I didn't care," Clark said. "There was no lease."

Asay said that Osterman would have accepted this extension had it been what she was promised by the mayor. Clark said he never explicitly promised Osterman that the clause would be removed, but rather just that the town was working on it.

"It's her prerogative to not sign the lease, if she doesn't like it," Hacker said, "but she cannot dictate what the town officials will offer her."

Osterman has expressed her willingness to sign any lease that comes before her now, regardless of whether it has a clause, to close the issue and move on. The town has not offered her any new contracts, while Asay maintains that she is entitled to an agreement that was represented to her by the mayor. As a circuit court judge, Lee does not have the authority to force the town of Burns to offer a lease to a tenant.

The hearing was attended by Burns community members who support the restaurant and voiced their support for it at an Oct. 9 town council meeting, where locals packed the council room to speak in favor of keeping the restaurant in town.

Also in attendance was Burns Town Council member Joe Nicholson, who owns the only other restaurant in town, RD Bar & Grill. He has voted on issues regarding Osterman's lease in the past. At that town council meeting, there was a motion to reopen negotiations between Osterman and the town after the notice to quit had already been filed, which did not pass.

Asay said town council votes regarding The Rustic Plate where Nicholson did not recuse himself should be nullified, citing a potential conflict of interest. Hacker said there is no conflict of interest in this situation under Wyoming law. Lee agreed with this interpretation, and Nicholson did not testify.

Before adjourning, Lee cited a lack of communication as the root of most of this conflict and said he anticipates an appeal from the defendant.

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.