EAGLE COUNTY — Aspen and Vail got a little closer together this week — and the taxi cab industry got a little tighter — when a Vail-area taxi company was sold to an Aspen-based company.

Dan Booz, former owner of Vail Valley Taxi, said he sold his Minturn-based company to High Mountain Taxi on Nov. 20, although neither he nor the buyer, High Mountain Taxi owner Todd Gardner, would reveal the price.

Booz’s business could not grow without a booth in the Eagle County Airport terminal, he maintained, noting that in 2004, Vail Valley Taxi lost a bid to High Mountain Taxi for three-year leases on limited counter space at the airport terminal.

Vail Valley Taxi co-owners Booz and Cheryl Emmeluth then sued the county. In July, the suit was dismissed when a judge ruled there were not sufficient facts for a trial. Booz has appealed that decision, he said.

Booz said he sold Vail Valley Taxi for “a lot,” and added, “I got what I wanted. I got purchased out. I got the cash in the bank.”

But Booz still thinks the county treated him unfairly.

“They decided they were going to harm us and help High Mountain Taxi,” he said.

Bryan Treu, attorney for Eagle County, did not respond to a message left with his receptionist earlier in the week.

The taxi cab business is tough, and there wasn’t room for two cab companies in the Vail Valley, said Todd Gardner, owner of High Mountain Taxi.

“I think we were both struggling to get by,” he said.

The purchase solidified High Mountain’s standing as the chief taxi service on Colorado’s Western Slope, at a time when Gardner recently had won an unrelated battle to unseat maverick taxi driver Phil Sullivan, who earlier this year was hauled before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to face accusations of operating illegally.

Sullivan was caught in a “sting” late last year when the PUC, acting on Gardner’s complaint, sent an undercover officer who got a ride from Sullivan. Sullivan reportedly did not charge the passenger, but he did accept a $10 tip, and was issued a PUC ticket.

Administrative Law Judge William J. Fritzel last month agreed with Gardner’s charge that Sullivan, who has been offering free taxi rides around Aspen for nearly a year, was operating illegally. Sullivan, whose red Kia van sports signs offering “Free Rides” and “Free Taxi,” was ordered to pay a $12,000 fine and cease giving rides.

But Sullivan, 71, told The Aspen Times that he would appeal the judge’s decision, and that he will continue to drive and offer rides.

In his appeal, Sullivan writes that he provides the free taxi as a service to the community.

“I am unemployed and volunteer to help friends, hitchhikers, neighbors and visitors get around Aspen. It is what I have done for 38 years. Mostly I take people home after dinner or a late night out. The vehicle I drive is not a vehicle for hire, and I do not ever ask for compensation.”

A PUC spokeswoman, however, said Sullivan does not have the authority to drive passengers around town.

High Mountain Taxi hopes to improve taxi cab service in the Vail Valley, Gardner said, explaining that he has hired at least half of the former Vail Valley Taxi employees, and he wants to hire them all.

“The whole community and county benefits because it’s going to allow us to have more cars on the road,” he said.

<i>John Colson's e-mail address is jcolson@aspentimes.com. Vail correspondent Steve Lynn contributed to this report.</i>