By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
An arbitrator has awarded Rowan County Commissioner Jim Sides a dollar in damages against the city of Salisbury for a surveying crew’s cutting of six small trees on his company’s property in 2006.
But Sides has filed papers appealing his small victory and seeking a jury trial in Civil District Court.
Sides acknowledged Wednesday that even though the mediator in his dispute agreed that he had been damaged, he wasn’t satisfied with the award. In his initial filings with Small Claims Court, Sides had sought compensation for damages in the amount of $2,222.
Sides said he had a witness at the arbitration hearing who put the total value of the lost trees at $2,800.
The arbitration decision is not binding. Civil matters are sometimes assigned to arbitration in hopes that a decision can be reached without tying up the regular court system.
A retired attorney from Kannapolis heard Sides’ dispute with the city in arbitration.
No date has been set in Civil District Court for Sides’ appeal.
In July of last year, Small Claims Court Judge Fred Moore ruled that Sides hadn’t proved his case and dismissed it with prejudice. Sides soon filed his appeal with Civil District Court, leading a judge to assign the dispute to arbitration.
Sides represented himself on behalf of his company, Today’s Trading Co., in Small Claims Court, but he had attorney Doug Smith representing him in the arbitration hearing.
City Attorney Rivers Lawther, City Manager David Treme and Assistant City Manager for Utilities Matt Bernhardt have represented the city.
A surveying crew, working on behalf of Salisbury-Rowan Utilities, entered Today’s Trading Co. property June 10, 2006, as part of its work in determining a route for the proposed city-county Interstate 85 sewer project.
The city acknowledges that some vegetation was cut to allow the surveyors to move physically over the site, but Bernhardt testified in Small Claims Court that the surveying crew was simply doing its job and behaved responsibly.
The city’s guidelines for surveyors, according to Bernhardt, stipulate that no vegetation 4 inches in diameter or larger should be cut and crews are instructed “to minimize any clearance activities.” But the city also recognizes that sometimes underbrush has to be cut.
Sides contends that the survey crews cut six 3-inch caliper trees on his property ó damage for which he should be compensated.
The city has argued that Sides will be compensated eventually when Salisbury condemns a portion of the property for the sewer line.
But city officials also have contended that Today’s Trading Co. had not been economically damaged by the cutting of the vegetation. In Small Claims Court, an appraiser testifying for the city said the company’s property was worth as much today as it was before the surveying crew performed its work.
Sides said the arbitrator agreed he had been damaged but couldn’t determine the amount of damages and finally settled on one dollar.
Sides said he has wanted a jury trial on his complaint from the start. He acknowledges that the city has the right to come on his property for purposes of surveying, but it doesn’t have the right, he says, to enter the property and damage it.
Sides contends that the city cut the trees as a matter of convenience, not necessity. He also rejects the city’s argument about its eventual right of eminent domain, saying it doesn’t give the city the right to damage his property without compensation.
Lawther said the city has not paid Sides the dollar award because the dispute is still not settled.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.