With one more step, the 11 year litigation battle between the City of Guthrie and Rural Water District No. 1 may soon be coming to an end next week.
On Tuesday following an executive session in the regular scheduled Guthrie city council and Guthrie Public Works Authority meetings, council members and trustees unanimously (7-0) agreed to a conceptual agreement with Rural Water.
“Tonight we approved the conceptual agreement for settling all claims between Guthrie and the Rural Water District,” City Attorney Randel Shadid said following the meeting.
Along with the settlement, the City also agreed with a water purchase contract.
“As part of that settlement, assuming that is approved by their board, sell them water at a wholesale rate of $5.22 per thousand with a CPI (consumer price index) annual adjustment to that number,” Shadid said.
Both staffs have been meeting regularly for the last few months and are hopeful they have come to an end.
Rural Water District 1 is expected to meet next Thursday to consider the settlement and agreement.
“That should bring an end to the litigation and start what hopefully will be a beneficial partnership for both the City and Rural Water District,” Shadid said.
Full details were not available with the agreement, but it is believed the agreement establishes which customers belong to which entity and who the water lines belong to.
In 2005, Rural Water filed a lawsuit against the City due to City’s expansion into the water district’s territory, which was established in 1972.
A federal jury found judgment in favor of the water district over the City and was awarded $1.28 million in damages. The water district was seeking $3 million in damages. The City appealed the decision. Related article: Rural water district awarded $1.28 million from Guthrie; appeal upcoming?
In 2012, the City prevailed in the state case brought forth by the water district in which the water district sought to compel the City of Guthrie to sell them water. At that time, a judge awarded the city’s insurance company a little more than $286,000 in legal fees that was spent defending the city in the state case versus the water district. In 2014, the court awarded Guthrie approximately $600,000 in legal fees.
The following interview hosted by Chris Evans and Phil Nichols was from November 2014 with the City’s water attorney Jim Milton.
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