For the second time in two weeks, Island County commissioners emerged from a closed-door session Thursday night on a controversial public road across the county fairgrounds without an answer for the city of Langley.

The county was served with condemnation papers for a piece of the fairgrounds property Thursday morning, said Commissioner Mike Shelton.

The commissioners discussed the situation in a lengthy executive session later that night. No decision was reached, Shelton said.

But now, the city’s patience has run out.

“Regrettably, the county commissioners advised me this morning that they cannot accept the city’s offer or grant possession and use at this time,” Langley Mayor Neil Colburn said Friday.

“Therefore, I have authorized our legal representative to file the necessary papers today to move the matter forward in the courts,” he said.

Colburn said he had hoped to avoid a lawsuit against the county.

“Once again, I am disappointed by the county’s process and the fair board’s refusal to support the county’s position: That the city’s request for the new roadway is reasonable and necessary for the future transportation needs of the city of Langley, as well as for improved access to the fairgrounds property,” he added.

Proceeding with the lawsuit doesn’t mean the city is closing doors to negotiations, though.

“I remain optimistic that the county will agree to negotiate before too many more public dollars have been needlessly wasted in legal proceedings,” Colburn said.

By Thursday afternoon, the city had still been hopeful that the dispute could be resolved outside of a courtroom.

“We are optimistic that the county will contact us tomorrow with a response to our purchase offer that will lead quickly to an agreement that is satisfactory to all parties and serves the best interests of the citizens of Langley, current and future,” Colburn said.

Colburn added that the documents submitted Thursday were “a formality.”

It was meant to give notice that the city would initiate court action if the commissioners’ meeting did not produce any results.

The city will now proceed and file a condemnation suit against the county to gain the right of way for the land.

The court proceedings are the culmination of a year-long dispute over a strip of land at the south end of the fairgrounds.

Langley wants a piece of the fairgrounds for a new road; fair supporters say it will make an adjacent piece of the county-owned property unusable.

After being turned down twice by the fair board for an easement request, Langley started taking legal steps to acquire the stretch needed for the new road.

In September, the city offered the county $12,075 for the land, but the fair board held on to its “no road” position.

County commissioners say they don’t have the power to make a decision without the fair board’s approval, or, lacking that, a vote by the people within the South Whidbey School District.

Colburn said it is not possible to accurately predict how long a court battle might take.

“Too many variables. Especially when the option will always be there for the county to settle with the city,” Colburn said.

“Our goal is to obtain access to the property for road construction no later than Dec. 1, 2006, although it could be sooner and it could be later,” he added.

The city is requiring the developer of the Highlands housing project to build the public connector road as part of the project.

The new road, to be called Fairgrounds Road, would stretch approximately one-quarter mile between Al Anderson Road and Langley Road; about 400 feet of the road would cross fairgrounds property.

All together, the city has offered to purchase 19,030 square feet for $12,075.

Twenty-five percent of the length of the road on fairgrounds property lies between the existing gate and the “toe” of a bluff.

The remaining 75 percent of the road continues up the slope and through a forested area. And that’s land the county fair is not using and can’t be developed, city officials said.

The fair board has opposed the easement or a sale of land because it would cut the fairgrounds into two parts and isolate the tent campground from the main portion of the property that’s used for fair events.