BELHAVEN — The state Court of Appeals upheld Beaufort County Superior Court’s dismissal of claims brought by the Town of Belhaven and North Carolina NAACP against Vidant Health and Pantego Creek LLC.

In its decision issued Tuesday, the Court of Appeals upheld the previous decision on claims including breach of contract, fraud, unfair trade practices, breach of fiduciary duty and civil rights violations. The claims were thrown out by Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright on Oct. 13, 2015, and an appeal was filed on Nov. 10, 2015.

The written opinion breaks down its reasoning by each individual claim.

In response to the claims of breach of contract, the court states that the Town of Belhaven has no authority to invoke a claim of reversionary interest, which refers to a vested interest in property and the subsequent turning over of that property if certain conditions (in this case, use as a hospital) are not met.

“The fundamental flaw with Plaintiff’s position is that Belhaven did not include any language creating a reversionary interest in the 1948 Deed to the effect that the land would revert to Belhaven in the event that the land ceased being used for the operation of a hospital,” the opinion stated. “We are satisfied that the language of the 1948 Deed does nothing more than express the purpose for which Belhaven wished the subject property to be used.”

The court also stated that the plaintiffs had no case regarding neither breach of contract nor breach of fiduciary duty. The 2011 agreement in question was made between Pantego Creek, Pungo District Hospital Corp. and Vidant. Neither of the plaintiffs was a party on the agreement, and therefore, has no standing in these claims, according to the decision.

The Court of Appeals also disagreed with Belhaven’s and the state NAACP’s claims that Vidant is guilty of fraud because it closed Vidant Pungo Hospital on July 1, 2014, stating that the two plaintiffs agreed to this possibility and their claims of fraud were too broad to be valid under the law.

“Plaintiffs’ agreement that Vidant could close the Hospital on 1 July 2014 was plain, clear, and unambiguous,” the opinion reads. “Their attempt to allege fraud … simply states that ‘at the time Vidant made these representations, it was secretly implementing its plans to permanently close the [Hospital], convey the property to a small group of people who controlled the Pantego Creek, LLC, pay its agents to demolish the [Hospital], and to build clinics nearby to compete with the re-opened hospital.'”

Continuing with the theme of specificity, the written opinion contends that the Superior Court’s decision to toss out the NAACP’s claims of civil rights violations was the correct way to proceed, stating that the law only intends for individual parties to bring forward grievances, not a widespread group such as the NAACP.

Arey Grady III, attorney for Pantego Creek LLC, which owns the hospital property, issued a statement saying the LLC members were pleased with the ruling.

“Pantego Creek hopes that this second court decision dismissing this lawsuit will be the final chapter in this baseless litigation,” Grady stated.

Despite the results, Belhaven Mayor Adam O’Neal said Pungo Medical Center, the nonprofit formed to oversee the hospital’s reopening, is proceeding with a $500,000 offer to Pantego Creek by Friday.

“We can’t control what the courts do,” O’Neal said. “The community deserves the right to attempt to save the hospital, especially if Pantego Creek just wants to tear it down. … Tearing down a hospital that can reopen would be devastating economically and health care wise.”

Pantego Creek is already moving forward with the demolition process after its membership voted to clear the property. Grady said the LLC will proceed as planned and cannot make decisions on the $500,000 offer until it has the paper in hand.