Hogansville settles city lawsuit with gas company

Published 6:57 pm Tuesday, April 21, 2020

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Recently, the city of Hogansville was sued by City Services, which is a South Georgia company that had provided utility services to the city.

“Based upon our discussions, strengths and weaknesses of the case and our defenses, I recommend that we settle the claim for $10,185.73,” Hogansville City Attorney Jeff Todd said. “That is roughly half of the amount requested. I have confirmation from the City Services attorney that they will accept that settlement.”

According to Mayor Bill Stankiewicz, City Services had a longtime contract with the city to handle gas business.

“They helped Hogansville with compliance and those kinds of issues, where you need the expertise in-house,” Stankiewicz said. “The city had a rough time with its gas system years ago and hired a new company.”

Stankiewicz said when the city canceled its contract with City Services more than six years ago, the then-council and city manager didn’t adequately notify and comply with the contract agreed to with City Services.

During the council meeting Monday night, the council also voted to issue a proclamation for the 150th anniversary of Hogansville.

“Specifically, it is a proclamation that declares, beginning May 15 through Oct. 12, 2020, we would have 150 days leading up to the 150th anniversary,” Stankiewicz said. “We are proclaiming that each of those days be established as a day of prayer, and the anniversary committee has been authorized to commemorate each day with this proclamation.”

During the storms Sunday, interim City Manager Lisa Kelly said the city suffered very little damage.

“The wastewater treatment plant reported 5.5 inches of rain between Sunday and Sunday night,” Kelly said. “That is a huge amount of rain in one night. We did get reports that the plant in-took 1.4 million gallons of our 1.5 million capacity, but it took it well.”