MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
A plan to bring broadband to the Black Belt stalled. Now a few of the major players are headed to court. The Lowndes County Commission is suing the owners of Hayneville Plaza alongside the South Central Alabama Broadband Cooperative District.. The county seeks $500,000 plus damages.
Meanwhile, the owners of Hayneville Plaza plans to file a counter-suit, according to attorney Michael Strickland.
Hayneville Plaza was supposed to house the headquarters for the broadband effort. In June 2011, Lowndes County commissioners voted to float a bond to purchase the building for $3.2 million.
The suit claims Karl Bell, the owner of the building, agreed to provide $500,000 to help offset the bond payments until the effort could get off the ground. The county claims when officials deposit the check, it was returned, and has not been made good.
Strickland told WSFA 12 News in an email that the check was supposed "to be held and never deposited."
He said there was never a signed contract between the Commission and Bell. An unsigned contract was attached as evidence in the original lawsuit.
Strickland said the two sides were engaged in pre-suit mediation, but could not reach a settlement.
Strickland claimed the Lowndes County Attorney, Hank Sanders, had a conflict of interest because he had done work for the South Central Alabama Broadband Cooperative District. Sanders denied a conflict existed, but removed himself from the case.
The federal government pulled $59 million in funding after it said Trillion Communications, the contractor hired for the project, had done little work to complete it.
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Hayneville Plaza in Lowndes County
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