State of Vermont
Superior Court—Environmental Division
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ENTRY REGARDING MOTION
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In re Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival JO Docket No. 204-11-10 Vtec
(Act 250 Jurisdictional Opinion)
Title: Motion to Dismiss (Filing No. 1)
Filed: February 14, 2011
Filed By: Liam L. Murphy, Attorney for Appellees/Applicants Steven Palmer and Haybale Entertainment,
LLC
Response in Opposition filed on 2/23/11 by Joseph F. Cahill, Jr., Attorney for Appellants Rene R. Prairie and
Louise Prairie
Reply filed on 4/1/11 by Liam L. Murphy, Attorney for Appellees/Applicants Steven Palmer and Haybale
Entertainment, LLC
___ Granted ___ Denied X Other
The Court is currently in the process of reviewing the parties’ pleadings on the pending motion and
conducting its own legal research. In the course of those deliberations, we concluded that it is appropriate to
convert the pending motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment on the question of the appellants’
standing to appeal. See V.R.C.P. 12(b) (“If, on a motion . . . to dismiss . . ., matters outside the pleadings are
presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment . . . .”).
Here, Appellants Rene R. Prairie and Louise Prairie have submitted an affidavit with their response to the
motion to dismiss, providing evidence outside of the pleadings that we will consider as we rule on the
pending motion.
We believe that we have sufficient legal memoranda and factual representations to decide the motion
as one requesting summary judgment. However, we want to give the parties the opportunity to submit any
further legal memoranda or affidavits that they would like the Court to consider. See V.R.C.P. 12(b)
(directing that when a trial court converts a pending motion to one requesting summary judgment, “all parties
shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56”).
We therefore ask that the parties complete such filings by Wednesday, May 4.
_________________________________________ April 26, 2011_____
Thomas S. Durkin, Judge Date
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Date copies sent to: ____________ Clerk's Initials _______
Copies sent to:
Joseph F. Cahill, Jr., Attorney for Appellants Rene Prairie, Jr. and Louise Prairie
Liam L. Murphy, Attorney for Appellees Steven Palmer and Haybale Entertainment, LLC
John H. Hansen, Attorney for the Vermont Natural Resources Board/Land Use Panel
Appellee Loren Palmer