Jerome Town Manager Brenda Man-Fletcher told The Verde Independent Friday morning that a settlement has been reached in the civil and criminal cases with Haunted Hamburger owner Eric Jurisin.
Both parties have been involved in a civil suit, and a criminal citation court case against Jurisin was scheduled for February.
The town's police and fire department's closed the upstairs dining area of the Haunted Hamburger last year for alleged fire code violations.
"We are happy," Man-Fletcher said. "Finally, we can have the open lines of communication again. It was good having everybody being listened to."
Man-Fletcher said the written settlement agreement won't be final until Friday, but in essence, (Jurisin) is going to make fire safety repairs immediately, and, once approved, the upstairs could be re-opened Saturday, Jan. 19.
"Then, Mr. Jurisin's going to take bids and submit designs for other fire safety installations," Man-Fletcher said. She said Jurisin would then go before the town's Design Review Board and start work once approved.
"The town looks forward to working with him in all of these applications and processes," Man-Fletcher said. "If all concludes as agreed upon, the criminal citations and civil lawsuit will be dismissed by each party."
There will probably be a little bit of negotiation yet, she said. Once the agreement is finalized, a special meeting of the Jerome Town Council will be scheduled for either Jan. 28 or Jan. 30.
Man-Fletcher said the council would go into executive session to hear an overview from the attorneys. Then the council would come out of the session and vote to approve the agreement or not.
