Luster

This case involves the ongoing dispute between two neighbors, plaintiff Arnold Luster and defendant R.S. Collins, over an easement 30 feet wide and about 1,200 feet long, located on the borders of their respective properties. The easement burdens Collins’s property.

Collins appeals the judgment entered after Luster successfully moved to confirm three arbitration awards dated November 10, 1989, January 13, 1990, and April 26, 1991. Collins contends the awards must be vacated because the arbitrator exceeded the scope of his authority in several respects, the arbitrator was biased and Luster lacked standing at the third arbitration hearing. For reasons set forth below we affirm in part and reverse in part, remanding for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Factual and Procedural Background

The easement which is the source of this litigation can generally be described as having three parts. The first part of the easement is paved; the second is a dirt road leading to a cul-de-sac; and the final part, also unimproved, ends at the northerly line of Luster’s property.

In November 1987 Luster sued Collins, claiming Collins’s placement of a barbed wire fence,…