Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

A dispute over payment for the installation of a fence for a proposed dog park has led to the City of Breckenridge filing a lawsuit against one of the city commissioners and to a delay in building the dog park.

In late 2023 or early 2024, the City of Breckenridge decided to build a dog park to diversify the local parks and offer citizens a place to let their dogs run and play in a contained area. The park is planned for a lot owned by the City that is between Elliott and Gaddis streets and between Robert and Dunnigan avenues. It is southwest of the City Park and northwest of Booker T. Washington Park.

However, a disagreement about the payment for the work to build a fence around the dog park area has put the project on hold indefinitely. In early 2024, the City accepted a bid from Akers, who was not a city commissioner at that time, to build a fence for the dog park. Later that year, he was elected to the commission for a second time and continues to serve on the commission now.

On July 28, 2025, the City of Breckenridge’s attorneys with the Messer Fort law firm filed a complaint in the 90th Judicial District Court against Akers regarding money paid by the City last year for the agreed-on fence work. According to the complaint, Akers cashed a check for a deposit on the project but didn’t do the work.

Akers said in a phone call this afternoon that the amount the City paid him was a fraction of what they had agreed on and that he needs the rest of the money in order to get started.

The complaint includes, as an exhibit item, a copy of the original invoice, dated April 1, 2024, for a total of $24,304.94 with a stipulation that 60 percent of the amount – $14,582.97 – needed to be paid in advance in order for Akers and his employees to begin work on the project, and the remainder – $9,721.97 – to be paid upon completion. The invoice showed that the cost of the materials for the fence totaled $14,404.94 and that the remaining $9,900 was for the labor to install the fence. A handwritten notation on the invoice indicates that on April 30, 2024, a check for $6,076.24 – 25 percent of the total invoice – was paid.

In the complaint, the City says that Akers agreed to accept the 25 percent as the initial payment, stating, “After some discussions with the City, Akers Investments LLC requested 25% of the quoted price up front. The City ultimately issued a purchase order to Akers Investments LLC and paid the requested 25%, which check was deposited. See Exhibit 1 (the quote, purchase order, and payment). While the City expected work to promptly begin on the dog park fencing, it did not.”

Additionally, in the “Causes of Action” section, the City reiterates its claim: “The quote transmitted by Akers Investments LLC constituted an offer to provide the materials at the quoted price, the City responded with an acceptance subject to Akers Investments LLC accepting a 25% down payment, and Akers Investments LLC accepted this response by cashing the check. Despite the offer and acceptance of this contractual agreement, Akers Investments LLC and Mr. Akers failed to perform under the terms of the contract by supplying the agreed upon materials. Further, upon demand, they have refused to repay the monies paid by the City in anticipation of the materials being supplied.”

Akers disputes that claim and says that he never agreed to accept 25 percent of the bill.

“… (City Manager Cynthia Northrop) only paid 25 percent (and) I told her, ‘You need to pay the other part and we’ll get started,’” Akers said. “And there (were) other conversations, but basically the last conversation was, ‘When you pay the remainder, then we’ll get started and we’ll get it done in two weeks.’ … And she never once spoke to me again, and filed a lawsuit against me.”

Additionally, Akers said the City delayed some of their work on the project, including moving a dirt pile. “So since she’s never fulfilled the contract, when they did come back and they sent me a letter, I said, ‘Well, if you want to cancel, that’s fine. There’s no refunds at this point, because now you’ve wasted a year of my time and you’ve never fulfilled your contract,’” he said.

Included in the complaint are two letters requesting the money from Akers, one dated May 7, 2025, from Eileen Hayman, Breckenridge’s City Attorney, and one dated July 11, 2025, from Timothy Dunn, the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Breckenridge.

At the June 3, 2025, Breckenridge City Commission meeting, the commissioners, Northrop and Hayman met in executive session to discuss the contract for the fence; Akers did not going into the closed session. When the commission reconvened in regular session, they voted unanimously, with Akers abstaining from the vote, that if the fence contract dispute was not resolved by June 17, 2025, they would authorize the City Attorney to file a lawsuit.

Northrop said that community members have expressed an interest in the proposed dog park but that she doesn’t want to continue with the project until the dispute over the money has been resolved. When the City is ready to move forward with the project, the City will need to take bids again, Northrop said.

When the project started, Akers was not a member of the City Commission. However, he was elected in May of that year, a date that would have been after the fence was complete if the project had progressed according to the original schedule. Although he’s now a member of the City Commission, Akers said the dispute with the City doesn’t affect his duties as an elected official.

“This is just business. This is … another business transaction where you’re dealing with a customer, at that point,” he said. “You know beyond that, it doesn’t have any impact on me as a commissioner.”

Click here to download the 17-page complaint filed by the City.

Cutline, top photo: A lot owned by the City of Breckenridge in southeast Breckenridge is the proposed location for a dog park. The park’s future is in limbo due to a contract dispute about payment for a fence for the park. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)