ROGERS -- About 200 historic bricks once a part of Rogers downtown streets have become a focal point in a settlement between the City Council and former city attorney Ben Lipscomb.
Lipscomb said Wednesday he used the bricks to make a flower bed at his home. An official with the Street Department told him the bricks were going to be thrown away, he said.
"They were in piles behind the street barn because the pallets they were on were rotting and falling on themselves," Lipscomb said in a text message. "I dug through the piles to find unbroken ones and made a flower bed out of them."
This happened in 2011, said Lipscomb, who had served as the elected city attorney for 24 years.
The return of the bricks to the city is a condition in the settlement agreement signed by Lipscomb and city officials Jan. 29. The settlement ended a months-long dispute in federal court in a lawsuit Lipscomb filed against the council and Mayor Greg Hines.
Lipscomb said his rights were violated when the council transferred most of his duties to a staff attorney who answers to the mayor. The city agreed to settle the suit for $390,000, and Lipscomb resigned when he signed the settlement.
The attorney the city hired to address Lipscomb's lawsuit provided a photograph showing the bricks lining a flower bed in front of Lipscomb's home. Lipscomb confirmed the photo shows the bricks.
"Yes, that is my house, and I would like to personally thank Mayor Hines and City Staff Attorney Chris [Griffin] for paying off my mortgage," Lipscomb said in a text message.
The bricks haven't yet been returned, said Justin Eichmann, the attorney hired by the city. City officials expected it could take a few weeks before the bricks are returned, he said.
Hines said he first learned about the bricks being at Lipscomb's home in recent months. The city removed the bricks from intersections downtown in 2009. The city replaced the bricks with brick-shaped concrete, only in the intersections, he said.
"The intersections are the hardest places to preserve the bricks," Hines said. "The turning of vehicles constantly wears out the bricks."
The bricks removed from the intersections were reclaimed and secured, Hines said. When broken bricks are found on downtown Rogers streets, they are replaced with the reclaimed bricks, he said.
Documents from a Freedom of Information Act request show Hines and Lipscomb had a discussion by text message about the bricks in November.
"It has come to my attention that you have items (brick pavers) of city property at your residence," a text from Hines to Lipscomb on Nov. 14 states. "I request that you return said property to the city by 5 p.m. Nov. 18, 2014."
Lipscomb responded to Hines via text saying he was given permission to take the bricks, but would return them if given more time.
"I'll gladly bring them back," Lipscomb said. "I would respectfully request more time however, as I have to dig them up and the ground is frozen."
Hines asked the bricks be returned by the end of 2014. A letter asking for the return of the bricks was sent Jan. 22 to the law firm representing Lipscomb. Eichmann addressed the letter to Jon Nelson of Norwood & Norwood.
"The city has made several demands to Mr. Lipscomb to return the bricks, but so far those demands have been ignored," the letter states. "Please be advised that all the bricks must be returned to the City of Rogers by 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, 2015."
Terrilyn Wendling, Rogers Historical Museum assistant director, said the bricks were first used to pave Rogers' streets in 1924. The brick streets help the city maintain a historic district designation from the National Registry of Historic Places, she said. The city first received the designation in 1988.
The streets were dirt prior to the paving, Wendling said. Dirt streets caused dust and made cities appear dirty, she said.
"Brick paved streets showed that you were an affluent city," Wendling said. "It took money to do that."
One man laid the bricks with the help of others, according to a news article Wendling referred to.
Rogers Alderman Gary Townzen said the story of how the bricks were laid has been passed down through generations in the city.
"My granddad stood on this corner and tried to get a job paving the road," Townzen said. "They said, 'We are hiring men not boys.'"
Many Rogers residents know a single man paved the road, Townzen said, although none seem to know his name. Helpers were paid 35 cents to carry the eight-pound bricks to the man. Others were paid 25 cents to carry water, he said.
James Hales, a Rogers author and president of Friends of the Rogers History Museum, said the man paved about a half-block of road every day. He also didn't know the man's name.
Eichmann said the city decided not to press charges against Lipscomb regarding the bricks.
"It was one of those issues where a prosecutor may have looked at it and said it was a civil matter," Eichmann said.
There also was a question about whether he received proper permission to take the bricks, Eichmann said. Past court cases would show only the City Council has the ability to give away city property, he said.
The timing also was complicated, Eichmann said. The city was already involved in the federal complaint by the time the mayor found out about the bricks.
"It was one of those calls that you make," Eichmann said. "We thought we were doing the right thing by asking for the return of the bricks. One thing we didn't want to do was add more to the ongoing case."
Teresa Moss can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWATeresaM.
NW News on 02/12/2015