AMWA v. Athens Legal Bills near $400,000 So Far

By Michael V. Hannigan

The Athens Municipal Water Authority (AMWA) and the City of Athens have combined to spend about $400,000 so far in legal fees and related costs connected with the water authority’s lawsuit against the city and the looming election.

The figure comes from records obtained by Henderson County Now through open records requests.

In December 2013, AMWA filed a lawsuit against the city alleging the city is in breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, is negligent and has committed fraud (AMWA later dropped all but the breach of contract allegation). The issue basically boils down to who should pay for the operation and maintenance of Lake Athens, the dam, and the water treatment and transportation facilities.

The City answered back by voting to dissolve AMWA. A petition circulated by AMWA, however, has caused the issue to be placed on the ballot for voters during Saturday’s election.

The lawsuit is currently on hold while the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler considers the first ruling by Visiting Judge Joe Clayton. To put the progress of the lawsuit in context, if it was a football game we would say that the opening kickoff is still under review.

The City

The City of Athens has spent approximately $234,000 so far on the lawsuit and the election, according to officials.

The city did not release most of the actual bills because attorneys believe much of the information contained therein is covered under attorney client privilege.

The city has requested an opening from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on the issue.

AMWA

AMWA released invoices totaling about $170,000 in response to the open records request. The invoices come from the law firms of Kugle, Skelton & Bennett in Athens, and Messer, Rockefeller & Fort in Frisco.

The bills for Kugle, Skelton & Bennett total about $75,000, but attorney Martin Bennett said that included other work the firm did for AMWA not connected to the lawsuit. It is unclear exactly how much work was done for what purpose from the invoices, thanks to a Free Invoice Creator.

The bills for Messer, Rockefeller & Fort total $94,335 and includes a $20,000 retainer. Those invoices are for January and February. There are no invoices from the law firm for March or April.

For more background on this issue, click here.