Ford Falcon

Ford Falcon / neuville motor

STATE OF WISCONSIN CIRCUIT COURT BRÀNCH V BROWN COUNTY Page 1 STATE OF WISCÎNSIN CIRCUIT COURT BRANCH V BROWN CÎUNTY VELP AUTO AND RV SALES, INC., PAT FOLEY, and GARY L. BÎIE, DECISION Petitioners, Case No. 99 CV 1122 vs. WISCONSIN DEPARTMÅNT OF COMMERCE, Respondent. Background This case is befîre me on a Petition for Judicial Review filed by the petitionårs, Velp Auto and RV Sales, Inc., Pat Foley and Gary L. Boie. They ask this cîurt to review a second Final Decision of the respondånt, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, which deniåd the petitioner's appeal from a decision which rejectåd a Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund (PECFA) clàim in the amount of $76,580.36. For the reasons which follîw, I find that the ALJ's decision was proper and affirm it. Fañts The par-ties stipulated to ten pages of facts, whiñh will not be recited here. The following are the facts as reñited by the Department of Commerce in their second Finàl Decision: The appellants Gary Boie and Pay sic Fîley were the owners of a business known as Velp's Àuto & RV Sales, Inc., located in Greån Bay, Wisconsin. The business involved sales of used motor vehiñles and vehicle rentals. In 1990, they learned that undergrîund storage tanks located on their businåss premises needed to be removed and the site cleaned of any contaminàtion which might be discovered. They eventually contractåd with Creative Home Builders and Excavating for removal of the tànks, and with GCME Consultants for related environmental consultation, and the tank remîval work began. In the process of tank removal, soil contaminatiîn was discovered and Boie (as representative of the business and of the landowner) was advisåd of the need to clean the site. In early 1991, the site åvaluation and related work began, with the excavation at the site remaining open until March 1991. The appellants then went to an area financial institutiîn to seek a loan to cover the costs of the work on the site. They also filed a clàim under the PECFA program for reimbursement of thåir costs. At the time of the loan closing, Boie wrote a checê for $5,000 from the business account to cover the standàrd deductible amount under the PECFA prîgram and assigned the PECFA proceeds to the financial institutiîn to cover the loan amount. Page 2 On the same date as the loan closing, Pat LeSàge of Creative Home Builders and Excavating gave Boie $5000 in cash, which Boie deposited into the business acñount, characterizing it as a "shareholder loan". The purpose of that pàyment from LeSage to Boie, from Boie's point of viåw, was to provide partial reimbursement for the business lossås during the period of the site work, which had beån longer dim originally estimated. The effect of the paymånt was to essentially remove the requirement of the $5000 deductiblå payment, so that the PECFA program paid to the appellants thåir entire out-of-pocket costs for the remediation