ESCANABA — A dispute between the Delta Conservation District and Former District Manager Rory Mattson came to an end this week when the district board agreed to a settlement agreement negotiated through facilitated mediation.

“We ended up with a settlement agreement — I think I heard it called ‘splitting the baby,'” said Conservation District Board Member Joe Kaplan.

Mattson had sued the district for $125,000, plus attorneys fees for breech of contract. The suit alleged the district owed him $50,000 for a bonus that was approved by a previous conservation district board for transitioning the county parks from district management to county management. The remainder of the $125,000 claim was $75,000 Mattson said he was owed from the District Liability Account, a fund the district said Wednesday was originally used to set aside vacation accruals for the next fiscal year.

Under the agreement approved by the district board Wednesday, the district will pay Mattson $90,000, which includes the $50,000 bonus and $40,000 for Mattson’s claim to the liability account. Part of that settlement, $39,000, will be paid by the district’s insurance company, which also paid for the district’s legal defense. The district is responsible for $51,000.

The district was also responsible for a $5,000 payment to its insurance company for a deductible for legal services. Had the district chosen not to accept the offer, it’s possible Mattson could have paid the legal fees. It’s also possible the district could have been responsible for Matton’s legal fees and the full $125,000 amount originally sought by Mattson.

“We would have the option, if we didn’t accept this settlement agreement, to have the insurance company pay for going to trial on this,” said Kaplan. “But if we were to lose the trial we would be on the hook for everything, and, since this is tied up in a contract dispute, the prevailing party … in a contract dispute … is awarded attorney fees.”

Other terms of the agreement included:

— Mattson being barred from suing the district again in the future. If he does file a suit against the district, he will be required to repay the full $90,000 sum.

— Mattson cannot seek employment with the district in the future. If he were to attempt to seek district employment, the agreement gives the district a legitimate and non-discriminatory reason to deny Mattson a job.

— Mattson will pay the district $3,000 to purchase a dump trailer that was the subject of a separate legal dispute that was thrown out of small claims court last year. The agreement effectively ends any claims the district and Delta County may have had in the trailer that Mattson has said was purchased in a three-way split. Because the county, at least on paper, still has a $1,000 interest in the trailer, it will be up to the county and the district to determine what, if any, payment will be made to make the county whole.