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Hamilton County Commission Regular session -- Dec. 17, 2008
Two months after he first stated that he wanted attorney John Anderson’s legal bills from the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority, County Commissioner Curtis Adams said he finally is satisfied.
“They brought all the information we asked for,” Mr. Adams said at Wednesday’s County Commission meeting. “Everything’s complete.”
Mr. Anderson is the attorney for the authority and the city of East Ridge.
WHAT’S NEXT
The County Commission voted last month to give the Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority 10 days to hand over the documents or else the county would take it to court. Commissioners must rescind that vote, since they no longer will require a lawsuit to get the records requested.
Authority Chairman Henry Hoss said he was pleased with Mr. Adams’ response, and that the authority never intended to hide anything.
“We can put it behind us and move on,” he said.
Mr. Adams asked for the bills on behalf of an East Ridge citizens’ group that was seeking to find out whether Mr. Anderson had charged East Ridge and the authority for the same work. Nothing in the bills indicate double billing or a conflict of interest, Mr. Adams said.
Only one entry in Mr. Anderson’s bills for the months of March, when Mr. Anderson started as the city’s attorney, through August includes any work involving East Ridge.
The July entry shows Mr. Anderson reviewed East Ridge’s city code, along with the codes of Red Bank, Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy and Lakesite, for the authority’s sewer inspection and repair plan. He charged $550 for five hours of work.
The bills provided cover July 2007 through August 2008.
But not all the commissioners were fully satisfied with the authority’s responses to requests for information.
Commissioner John Allen Brooks last month requested documentation of any relationships between Mr. Hoss’ accounting firm, Barto, Hoss & Co., P.C., and business entities that have come before the authority.
“I’ve gotten some material, but I don’t believe I’ve gotten everything,” Mr. Brooks said.
Mr. Hoss’ firm previously did some administrative work for the authority, but that work now has ceased, Mr. Hoss has said.
Mr. Adams said he has withdrawn a request for Mr. Anderson’s bills to East Ridge. He said he withdrew the request because he was under the impression that Mr. Anderson would be resigning his post as city attorney.
Mr. Anderson has said he has not made any announcement about resigning from the post.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners voted to transfer property at Enterprise South industrial park to Chattanooga’s Industrial Development Board for the Volkswagen plant. Also, they voted to convey Engel Stadium to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
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