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Metro upped the ante in the litigious saga of the headquarters hotel project near the Oregon Convention Center on Tuesday, filing a “validation action” in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

The action, allowed under Chapter 33 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, is geared to prevent a stream of lawsuits and other legal challenges, said Andy Shaw, chief of staff for Metro President Tom Hughes.

“Essentially we’re asking the court to clear away any doubt that Metro has the legal authority to proceed with the development agreement and the revenue bonds financing,” Shaw said. “We believe the court will validate our work to date. If the court identifies a flaw, we’d rather know about that sooner than later.”

At issue is the public financing portion of the $197.5 million project and whether local voters should have a say. The county in December agreed to let Metro issue $60 million in revenue bonds, which would be paid for by room taxes collected at the 600-room hotel. A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge ruled in February that the decision was an administrative action that did not need to be referred to voters.

Opponents of the funding plans appealed that decision and later filed a second suit in Clackamas County Circuit Court, claiming Metro was in violation of its charter by financing a new building without a public vote.

“We only filed that because they are clearly trying to block us from going to the ballot in the county,” said Paige Richardson, a spokeswoman for Coalition for Fair Budget Priorities – a group of several hoteliers opposed to the funding plans.

The validation action will allow challengers to lay out their legal claims or challenges in an expedited process and prevent future claims from holding up the construction process, Shaw said. Three to five months could be needed for the court to reach a decision, he said.

Metro is hoping ground will be broken on the project by March 2015.

“Once we’ve cleared away any doubts about Metro’s legal authority, we will move ahead and issue revenue bonds and move toward construction of a hotel,” Shaw said.