Commissioners enter settlement agreement with Maymead

In an unexpected turn of events Monday night after a closed session, the Alleghany Board of Commissioners announced a settlement agreement with Maymead Materials in regards to a proposed asphalt plant in Laurel Springs.

Soon after the announcement, Judge John O. Craig III was expected to sign his official order granting victory to Maymead in its battle against the county to build its asphalt plant. The company had sued the county over two ordinances, the High Impact Land Use/Polluting Industries Ordinance and the Property Rights Protection Ordinance. The settlement agreement apparently was negotiated in anticipation and with some knowledge of the likely contents of the judge's order, according to information from the settlement agreement. Specifically, the agreement said that the order was being presented to the judge for his "approval and signature...to effectuate his ruling on summary judgment in the litigation."

As such, the settlement agreement stated that it was attached to and dependent upon the judge signing the order as presented. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will receive $40,000 from the county for attorney fees and be allowed to build its asphalt plant with no further appeals. The county must send the money to Maymead by certified check within 30 days.

In the accompanying order set to be signed Wednesday by Judge Craig, the company was granted vested rights prior to the adoption of the ordinances, as well as an award for damages in an unspecified amount and full attorney fees.

Thus Alleghany's exposure could have been much higher in the case, with a trial already planned for April 23 to decide on the amount of damages the company already had been awarded and attorney fees in the amount of $100,000.

In essence, the settlement agreement will limit Alleghany's exposure to liability in the suit and uphold the county's ordinances, said County Manager Don Adams.

For Maymead, the settlement will allow the company to immediately begin construction on its proposed asphalt facility—without concern about further court actions by the county—at the former Laurel Springs School, a 7.319 acres tract of land located at 11995 N.C. Highway 18 South.

The company had already been assured of a damage award in addition to the attorney fees. "Only the amount they would have received would have been in question," stated Adams. "There were some financial certainties there. We wanted to limit any financial liabilities to Alleghany County. Obviously, that's one of the first reasons to settle something like this.

"When you're trying to look at all of your appeal options, you do have to consider that no matter what the ruling was that was sent out by the judge, many of the issues from the case could have been brought back up in Appellate Court," said Adams.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back