A legal dispute between the city and a local labor union met its end Monday.

The Sparks City Council voted unanimously to settle a lawsuit with Laborers International Union of North America Local 169 and union business manager Richard Daly.

According to the terms of the settlement, both the city and Daly will pay their own legal expenses. Also, the city will not award damages to the union or Daly.

The lawsuit started when Daly filed against the city in June, claiming that the bid process for a $7 million city sewer project was done illegally.

Because of changes to another roadwork project, Sparks purchasing manager Dan Marran opened up the sewer project for new bids on June 17, with Daly protesting that the action ran counter to Sparks Municipal Code.

According to Sparks City Attorney Chet Adams, the decision to accept rebids was made because new information came to light about an overlapping project: the Regional Transportation Commission’s widening of Vista Boulevard.

Daly claimed that only the city council has the ability to alter the bid process on a multi-million dollar project. He claimed that the purchasing manager’s authority ended when bids were larger than $25,000.

On July 13, the Sparks City Council ratified Marran’s bid-tossing decision in a unanimous vote. One day later, the Washoe County District Court ruled that the City of Sparks purchasing manager acted within his authority when he rejected the bids.

Daly appealed the district court’s decision on Aug. 4, sending the argument to the Nevada Supreme Court. After an Oct. 7 Supreme Court-mandated mediation meeting, the city suggested settling.

The sewer project in question is being constructed by Reno Tahoe Construction and is designed to bring increased sewer capacity to residents in Spanish Springs.

The construction on the sewer line began on Aug. 17. The road expansion project by the Regional Transportation Commission will follow the city's sewer project and is expected to last though summer 2010, according to city press releases.