By Michael V. Hannigan
The lawsuit which has hung over Athens government for nearly a year took a step closer to being dismissed last week.
On Wednesday, Oct. 15, the 12th Court of Appeals granted a joint motion to dismiss an appeal connected with the Athens Municipal Water Authority (AMWA) lawsuit against the City of Athens.
The original lawsuit is still open in the 173rd District Court and no motion to dismiss had been filed as of Monday, Oct. 20, however, officials say that motion is expected to be filed.
In early September, the Athens City Council tentatively approved a new contract with AMWA contingent on the lawsuit being dismissed. AMWA later approved the contract as well.
AMWA filed the lawsuit in December 2013 alleging the City was in breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, was negligent and committed fraud. The lawsuit asked for a monetary judgement against the City, and although there was no definitive amount requested, in multiple spots the suit said the City was responsible for an amount “in excess of” $4 million.
The lawsuit never made it past visiting Judge Joe Clayton’s first ruling, which was that AMWA had the right to bring the lawsuit. The City’s attorneys filed an appeal to the judge’s decision. Because the judge’s decision was a key to the case moving forward — called a “threshold” decision — the hearing was automatically stopped until after the appeal was heard in the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler.
The motion granted last week in the Court of Appeals said both parties agreed to dismiss the allegations and the claims for damages “with prejudice to refiling.”