Spencer aldermen want lawyer to look at water-sewer contract

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Two Spencer aldermen will ask the town board to hire an attorney to determine whether Salisbury breached the town’s water-sewer contract by using revenues to help finance Fibrant.

The Spencer Board of Aldermen will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Town Hall.

Aldermen Jeff Morris and Reid Walters say they want an independent lawyer to look into the issue. Spencer’s town attorney, Rivers Lawther, also serves as Salisbury’s city attorney.

Morris, an attorney, said in Spencer’s October 2000 contract with Salisbury-Rowan Utilities, Salisbury agrees that money the city receives for water and sewer utilities will be used only for water and sewer utilities.

“I’ve combed through Salisbury’s current budget and excerpted two of the 345 pages to show that for the year ending June 30, 2012, Salisbury reports having transferred $499,253 from Water and Sewer Fund to supplement their General Fund,” Morris wrote in an email to aldermen.

Morris said he believes Water and Sewer Fund transfers are supplementing General Fund dollars to fund Fibrant and replace fleet vehicles.

“I’m just asking for the town to get a legal opinion on those and other contract interpretation questions,” Morris said.

Morris told aldermen he will provide handouts showing that Spencer’s water and sewer dollars are going into a fund that loans money to Fibrant, Salisbury’s new broadband utility.

Fibrant will borrow an estimated $7.5 million from other Salisbury funds to help cover costs through 2014. For two years, the loans have come from the Water and Sewer Capital Reserve Fund.

Mayor Pro Tem Jim Gobbel expressed concern in an email to aldermen that they are blindsiding Salisbury.

Walters said while the language is strong, “this is a contractual issue with a large municipality and this board will be doing the town a huge disservice if we do not have someone who knows contract law look into this matter.”