The City of Wetumpka held a meeting in Elmore County recently to discuss the lawsuit concerning a council-approved ordinance that requires the relocation of their equipment.   The city’s buildings are side-by-side on Main Street, and one provides electricity, while the other provides government services.   The current lawsuit could be worth millions of dollars. 

The meeting include city officials and plaintiff’s attorneys, and the two sides appeared before Circuit Court Judge Bill Lewis.   After a status review of the case, which lasted just an hour, the judge ordered the two sides to head to mediation.   The mediation is supposed to occur prior before any additional court dates are set and the judge asked that the mediation occur within the next 45 days.   The goal of mediation is to see if the two sides can settle the issue before moving forward with the motions involved in the lawsuit.  

According to a representative of the city, the city is open to mediating and seeing if there is any common ground between the two sides.   Despite stating they are open to mediation, the city filed a motion for summary judgment after the mediation order.   The motion stated, “Plaintiff City of Wetumpka, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, respectfully moves the Court to enter summary judgment in the City’s favor on its Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief, BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC’s counterclaims, and Charter Communications, Inc.’s counterclaims.   The city is entitled to a judgment because there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the city is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. ”

The mediation will move forward, but nobody is sure whether or not it will put an end to the lawsuit.