Bryant ex-official aims to settle suit

City attorney says lawn-damage claims likely to be tossed

BRYANT -- A former Bryant alderman, who is suing the city for the second time over a ditch in his lawn, is looking to settle the suit for $30,000 and for the city to fix his property.

Edward Collins, the former alderman, sued the city in 2009 while he was serving on the council. The year before, the city started Operation Flood Relief in the Forest Cove subdivision, widening flood drains and culverts to reduce flooding, according to the complaint. During that time, the city dug a ditch on his property with the intent to fix the property later.

He brought the lawsuit as a breach of contract when the city didn't fix the ditch fast enough, City Attorney Chris Madison said. The city won the case after an appeal but had to pay $35,000 for Collins' legal fees. While the city's legal counsel appealed the judgment, it did not appeal the fees, prompting the payout, Madison said.

In 2013, Collins sued the city again -- for what Madison and Keith Wren, who represented the city during the first lawsuit, said were many of the same allegations -- along with a new allegation of trespassing.

"We're in the process of narrowing down what exactly it is that they're claiming," Wren said during a City Council meeting last week.

Three of the claims in the new lawsuit seem to stem from actions in 2008, he said, adding that his attorneys should have brought those forward in the first lawsuit.

"What we're going to say is that they're now precluded from coming back as a matter of law," he said.

The trespassing claim, Wren said, wouldn't be valid because the city contracted that job out. Anyone who went to fix the property would not have been a city employee, he said.

Wren told the council that he was "fairly confident" the claims could be dismissed and recommended not to settle the suit.

Collins would settle for the $30,000, which includes legal fees, and the installation of the stormwater culverts in his yard by Oct. 31, according to a letter from his attorney, Richard Mays, to Wren.

The city's legal counsel also recommended suspending any work on Collins' property to ensure no other allegations are brought forward.

Alderman Randy Cox said the people in that community had suffered long enough, but Alderman Brenda Miller said the city couldn't fix the ditch by the specified date. The city could negotiate the time frame and the payments with Collins, Cox said.

Alderman Adrian Henley presented a motion to settle the lawsuit, but no other council member backed it.

Alderman Mike Chandler then called into question Henley's relationship with Collins. Henley had asked for updates on the lawsuit once before and again during the council meeting last week.

"Do you now or have you ever been employed by Mr. Collins?" Chandler asked Henley. When Henley denied any employment, Chandler asked if Henley had ever worked at Collins' snow cone stand.

Henley told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he helped Collins -- whom he got to know through the first case -- with the stand when Collins was off or out of town.

"I never made money or was partners with him," Henley said. "I believe he did give some money every once in a while. It was never an agreed amount -- maybe like 100 bucks here and there. There was no working for him. I help out as much as I can."

Collins would give the money not as a salary but as a "gesture of goodwill" to help out with things like gas expenses, Henley said.

The relationship isn't spurring Henley's desire to settle, he said.

"That's the least we're going to be able to settle the case for," Henley said. "We know we're going to fix the ditch. I'm trying to settle it for the least amount for the citizens. It's also an ethical issue: The city promised them that they were going to fix it. Whether or not the contract was fouled ... we should honor our word."

The ditch has devalued the Collins' house, Henley said. The family can't refinance the home or sell it, he said.

"They've given up a lot of things over what the city did to their yard," he said. "I think it's a travesty that we're going to bash our residents who are asking the city to fix something the city did."

Henley said he was trying to get negotiations going and get the council talking.

The council has agreed to hold off on making a decision on a settlement, though Cox, Henley and Alderman Rob Roedel voted against that motion.

Roedel said he felt it was unfair for the neighbors in that area to deal with "an unsightly issue, such as that ditch."

"I don't necessarily agree with Mr. Collins' legal stance, but I do believe the neighbors deserve their neighborhood to be aesthetically correct," he said.

Alderman Steve Gladden said "the whole thing was an insult" to Bryant residents. The city always planned to fix the ditch, but it didn't fit into the time frame for Collins, he said.

"This would have been fixed a lot sooner if we didn't have the lawsuit," he said. "It just did not fall in the line that satisfied that man. He shouldn't have been the one to be satisfied first. The citizens should have been satisfied first."

Metro on 07/27/2014

Upcoming Events