GREENE COUNTY
The city of Greensboro has agreed to pay $1,085,000 as part of a settlement in a 2018 lawsuit resulting from continuing sewage problems at 102 Rachel St., Greensboro.
According to court documents, the family of Raymond Wright Sr. alleged that the city had failed to maintain a sewer manhole and the lines leading to it that were constructed in their backyard.
They argued that “on numerous occasions, raw, untreated sewage has bubbled up, leaked and flooded out of it into and around the backyard of the Wright homeplace, often to the extent of flowing down an adjoining hill into the creek” adjacent to the property.
The Complaint for Damages also said that “this seriously unhealthy, dangerous condition” occurred various and numerous times since 2013 and caused vultures and buzzards to roost in trees around their property, “throwing up and excreting” whatever was left of items scavenged during the day.
As part of the discovery, the family submitted what were described as photos of sewage around the manhole and multiple images of buzzards on and around the family’s property.
The lawsuit said that, despite knowing about the situation, the city did “not take any action(s) sufficient to properly maintain the manhole and keep this condition from re-occurring.”
The city’s response was to deny all allegations, listing technical claims such as sovereign immunity, and statute of limitations, and that all actions by the city were taken in good faith and within the performance of its governmental functions.
Since the lawsuit was filed over five years ago, the city’s mayor and some council members have changed.
In a written statement Tuesday sent by the city attorney in response to the Lake Oconee News’ request for comment, current Mayor Corey Williams said he could not comment because they are still waiting for further rulings regarding the terms of the resolution to the out-of-court settlement.
“Upon taking office,” Williams said in the statement, “my administration diligently investigated and addressed the underlying issues in this suit. This was an inherited problem that we vigorously sought to resolve.”
As a subplot to the lawsuit, much of the lawyers’ time was spent determining which members of the Wright family were parties to the lawsuit and, thus, beneficiaries of any settlement or court ruling in their favor.
That matter is still pending, but until the issue is sorted out, the settlement in mid-October ordered the city to pay $1,085,000 to the court registry by Oct. 24.