June 24 Witt Sewer Lawsuit Ends With City Paying Attorney Fees and Fines Reduced Through Negotiations

The Witt Sewer Lawsuit appears to be at an end. 

Last year, Federal District Judge Ronnie Greer ruled in favor of the Witt residents, ordering the City to repair the Witt sewer line, make monetary payments to two Witt residents, pay attorney fees of the Witt residents' attorney Gary Davis, and pay fines for violations of the Clean Water Act. Click here and here.

The City appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals but later entered into negotiations with the Witt residents--negotiations that recently resulted in an agreed settlement with a reduction of the attorney fees and fine.

In the video (above) City Administrator Tony Cox reports that Federal District Judge Ronnie Greer approved the negotiated settlement of the attorney fees that will be paid by the City to the Witt residents' attorney and approved a reduced fine to be paid to the US Treasury for the City's violations of the Clean Water Act.

The City will finish the repair work on the Witt sewer line and will also make the monetary payment to two of the Witt residents.

March 6, 2012 The Bank Levy on the City of Morristown: What Next?

Yesterday, I posted the writ of execution that was issued by the U.S. District Court authorizing seizure of City of Morristown funds in the amount of $573,632.84.

Now that those funds have been seized by the U.S. Marshals, my guess is that Morristown has sobered up and is having some serious discussions with Plaintiffs' lawyers to settle the attorney fees, litigation costs, and/or civil penalties that were assessed against the City in the Stephens, et al. v. City of Morristown case. In this mix may be the dismissal of the City's appeal to U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a case that was brought only after Morristown refused to acknowledge problems with the Witt sewer line and refused to repair and rehabilitate that line, the City spent thousands in attorney fees for its lawyers, had to pay attorney fees and costs for the Plaintiffs' lawyers, and ended up under a court-order to fix the Witt line. [The Tennessee Municipal League (TML) paid initial attorney fees but that stopped at some point and then Morristown was directly on the hook for paying the City's defense team]

All this money was spent because the City ignored a serious problem with the Witt sewer line that was brought to its attention as soon as Koch Foods hooked up to the Witt line around 2005.

And the City would likely still be ignoring the problem today if several gutsy Witt residents hadn't  hired a lawyer after deciding that they had taken enough of the City's stonewalling and odors and overflows.

During the lawsuit, Judge Greer blistered the City in discussing the City's "malfeasance" in handling its finances, making illegal money transfers, failing to provide critical documents, ignoring recommendations of its experts, etc.

With two consecutive years (2009 and 2010) of the sewer fund being "in the red," you have to wonder if the City's appeal of the attorney fees and other costs was just another in an ongoing series of delaying tactics to avoid acknowledging the financial morass that has been present for years and years.

Whatever the reasons or motivations on the part of the City to ignore the Witt problems and to appeal the attorney fees, etc., the City's tactics cost sewer ratepayers dearly, highlighted the mismanagement of the City's funds, and caused a federal judge to note the City's financial "malfeasance."