The following is excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked the Utah Supreme Court on Monday to lift the injunction that halted construction of the Heber Valley Utah Temple while four men appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit seeking to stop it permanently.
If the court refuses to lift the injunction during the appeal, the attorney representing the church asked the justices to increase the bond the men posted to protect the church during the appeal from $10,000 to at least $7.5 million.
That would cover the likely increase in the cost of construction supplies if work was halted for 12 months, said David Jordan, the attorney who represented the church.
Jordan told the court during oral arguments Monday afternoon that an 18-month delay is estimated to cost the church $11.4 million. He asked for a ruling instituting a bond for that amount if the appeal runs that long and the church prevails.
The church began construction in late August, a month after a district judge gutted a lawsuit by four men seeking to overturn the approval of the temple’s location by the Wasatch County Council.
The men appealed their case to the Utah Supreme Court in September. Days later, the same district court judge who had ruled against them last summer granted the men an injunction to stop the temple’s construction while the Supreme Court considers the appeal.
That could take a year or more. The appeal is still in its earliest stages. Neither side has filed briefs, and it is expected that oral arguments won’t be scheduled for months.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
