Towns at odds
The Towns of Colby and Green Grove spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees in a lawsuit that should have never happened over a bridge that borders town lines.
The Town of Green Grove sued the Town of Colby which turned into a two-year legal battle that isn’t over yet.
This dispute is one that both sides agreed shouldn’t have been a problem. So why was it?
Let’s start with the two townships’ 2010 agreement. This arrangement was made to clear the air with the state to make sure each party knew who would be taking each section of the bordering road. However, it has obviously sparked more controversy than the previous agreement that had been in place.
Larry Oehmichen, chairman of the Town of Colby, said he and former Green Grove Chairman Mark Klein had a meeting in which they had decided to reverse 80plus years of precedent in order to align their books with the state’s. Although it might be good practice, that agreement should have never been made between the two entities.
There are laws in place that allow townships to change who finances sections of road. Instead, the two towns decided to make their own agreement which eventually led to the lawsuit. Might it be more paperwork to file such actions with the Wisconsin DOT? Sure. But the laws exist to avoid confusion and help with communication between neighboring towns.
The disagreement came about after Green Grove billed the Town of Colby for replacing the bridge on Meridian Avenue after work had been completed on the bridge in 2020. The lack of communication leading up to that point is alarming.
Attorney Lee D. Turonie of Dempsey Law represented Green Grove during the lawsuit. He stated that it is a disputed fact whether there was communication between the Town of Colby and Green Grove about the impending bridge project.
“Literally, Colby probably knew what Green Grove knew most of the time,” Turonie said. “Green Grove asked [the contractors] to send Colby whatever updates Green Grove got sent.”
Oehmichen alluded to the fact that the Town of Colby had no idea it would be billed for the work being done on the bridge until a bill arrived in their mailbox.
Clark County Judge Lindsey Boon Brunette stated in her summary judgment document that the lack of communication from Green Grove and then the sending of the bill, “Made no sense.”
The Town of Colby isn’t off the hook on this. They worked on the stretch of road in question up until 2010 and presumably got the bridge inspected regularly. They had to have known a bridge replacement would be in the near future and could have asked what role Green Grove expected the Town of Colby to play in financing the project. Bottom line, there should have been ample communication from township to township about the bill that was coming down the pipeline and having no such communication had a direct impact on the towns’ abilities to negotiate a resolution.
Next, we can examine the settlement that should have happened, but didn’t. After Green Grove had submitted a “claim” to Colby, the Town of Colby came back with a demand letter dated Dec. 10, 2020 that gave Green Grove six months to pursue legal action or drop the claim altogether.
After nearly six months of negotiating, Green Grove lowered its asking price for the cost of the bridge from over $27,000, to $20,000 while the Town of Colby wrote a check out for $17,500 to Green Grove. The check was sent back and a lawsuit was initiated.
Oehmichen stated that the Town of Colby was willing to pay the full $20,000 after the $17,500 check was mailed back. However, he said Green Grove had already filed a lawsuit by the time the Town of Colby board could have their monthly meeting and approve the $20,000 offer. In the Town of Colby meeting minutes from June 10, 2021, it is written, “[Green Grove] did not accept our offer of $20,000 for the cost of the bridge on Meridian Avenue.”
Turonie stated that Green Grove was up against the six-month time limit in which they could file a lawsuit and thus, had no other choice but to file a suit after receiving and sending back the $17,500 check.
At their Sept. 13 meeting, the Town of Colby stated they had $30,896 in legal fees. It is safe to assume Green Grove has a similar or equal amount invested in this case. Between the towns, around $60,000 has been poured into a lawsuit that could have been avoided had the two towns communicated better.
All this miscommunication, back-, side-, or frontdoor agreements and legal action only truly hurts one group of people. The taxpayers. The representatives of those taxpayers must do better.
The Tribune-Phonograph editorial board consists of publisher Kris O’Leary, editor Neal Hogden and reporter Nathaniel Underwood.
