The Montana Supreme Court has backed a decision by a district judge regarding work at the Lincoln County Port Authority.

The state’s high court ruled April 16 that Judge Luke Berger’s decision in July 2025 to deny Libby resident Dan Torgison’s motion for a preliminary injunction in an effort to halt further work planned at the property on the south side of Libby was correct.

Torgison sued the Port Authority in April 2025, alleging it violated open meeting and public participation laws. The suit accused the Lincoln County Commission, Port Authority and others of hiding its business dealings with Noble Investment Properties, Inc., specifically the sale of 107 acres, owned by county taxpayers, from the Port Authority to Chris Noble in December 2023.

Noble paid $1.6 million for 105 acres and got a $600,000 credit for work done on Port property, including regrading the land, installing a sewer and water line and a building a new concrete facility.

Noble Investments inked a deal in 2025 with Comfort Inn & Suites, a subsidiary of Choice Hotels, to sell a portion of the acreage bought by Noble to the chain to build an 80-room hotel.

Then, on July 18, Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Luke Berger denied Torgison’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

One week later, on July 25, Torgison’s attorney, Amy Guth, filed an appeal directly to the Montana Supreme Court.

While Berger’s written order primarily discussed Torgison’s efforts to halt further dealings or nullify previous decisions between county officials and developer Chris Noble, Torgison’s appeal to the state’s high court mainly references open meeting law violations.

Berger, in his 2025 ruling, determined Torgison didn’t meet the four-part test which would have cleared the way for a preliminary injunction. One part of the test is whether Torgison was likely to succeed on the merits of their case.

Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice wrote the opinion for the majority of the seven-member court. Agreeing with Rice’s opinion were Ingrid Gustafson, Laurie McKinnon, James Jeremiah Shea and Cory Swanson.

But the suit in Lincoln County District Court is pending. Torgison alleged that the port board of commissioners, county and county commissioners violated open meeting laws, the public’s right to participate in its government and the right to know what the government is doing.

A status conference was held May 18, but the results of that are not known.