By DONNIE JOHNSTON
Two sides that could not define "good faith" or acknowledge a starting point for further negations, and meeting in an atmosphere that could only be termed as contentious, last night signed an agreement that their lawyers declared was a victory for both.
The Culpeper Town Council and the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors each got something it wanted--although both concessions may be temporary.
The town got the county to drop its water and sewer lawsuit that was scheduled to go to court next month. The county got 50,000 gallons of wastewater treatment per day, which it desperately needs to serve new industry just outside the town limits.
But according to the agreement hammered out by Richmond lawyer Carter Glass, representing the town, and Culpeper County attorney Roy Thorpe, the court case could end up back on the docket, and the county might one day be forced to serve new industries with infrastructure it doesn't have.
Last night's agreement was the third in a line of such documents that date back to 2003. If fact, this was an amendment to that 2003 agreement whose interpretation eventually became the basis for the current litigation.
That dispute erupted last winter when the county discovered that the town was charging industrial customers multiple residential rates that amounted to as much as 10 times the prevailing town water and sewer commercial rates.
The town claimed that there was no defining language in the 2003 agreement concerning this point so the county decided to put the matter before a judge.
Since the suit was filed, the two sides' lawyers have been attempting to strike a compromise, which became last night's agreement.
Under this agreement, the two sides have one year to agree on a boundary adjustment--the town wants to incorporate an adjacent industrial section of the county--and set up a regional water and sewer authority.
If either side fails to bargain in "good faith," the county can reinstate its suit, and the town can demand that the county take over industrial customers outside the town limits. This does not include customers the town now serves in the county under a three-party agreement, separate from the 2003 agreement.
While the council was quick to vote for last night's agreement, the supervisors were more hesitant.
Supervisor Sue Hansohn was skeptical from the beginning. "Other agreements have not been honored," she said, "so we need some kind of assurance that this one will be."
Glass assured her that while the 2003 agreement was loosely written, this one was airtight.
Hansohn and Supervisor Tom Underwood then negotiated the original 30,000 gallons of wastewater per day to 50,000, and the original 200 percent of the in-town rate tap fees down to 150 percent.
But Underwood and Supervisor Steve Nixon balked when the council refused to say where the starting point for negotiations on the water-sewer authority and boundary adjustment would be.
Both anticipated that the starting point would be with a memorandum of understanding signed in the summer of 2008 but lost within weeks.
Then Supervisor Larry Aylor questioned just what bargaining in "good faith" meant, and if either side's interpretation of the phrase would hold up in court. Thorpe said it wouldn't.
The supervisors also drew back when, almost immediately after voting to accept the agreement, Councilman Jim Risner called for his group to adjourn while the supervisors were still asking questions.
"I don't have a warm and pleasant feeling about 'Here's the motion and let's adjourn,'" Aylor said.
Underwood then added that he would "have a hard time signing a document when we don't know what 'good faith' is."
"We're here because of litigation and a lack of good faith," Risner said.
On that note, the supervisors voted 6-1, with Underwood dissenting, to accept the agreement. Two more members expressed cautious optimism in doing so.
Thorpe will drop the county's suit today, and about 10 potential water and sewer customers in the county--who were in a packed audience--can now start staking out rights-of-way for sewer and water pipes.
Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com