JENKINSVILLE – Motions relating to pending lawsuits against the Jenkinsville Water Company and some of its officers are scheduled to be heard in a Fairfield County courtroom this week. In all, four motions will be heard on Friday, April 27. A trial date of May 7 has been set in one of the lawsuits, according to Fairfield County court documents.
Ginyard
One motion on Friday’s docket seeks to merge two similarly worded lawsuits – one filed in 2014 and the other in 2016. Both suits were filed by the Broad River Campground. JWC is named as the lone defendant in the 2014 suit, while JWC president Greg Ginyard and vice president Joseph McBride are co-defendants in the 2016 litigation.
Both suits concern a dispute over water usage agreements between the campground and the JWC. They also dispute how rates were calculated. Many people living at the campground were workers at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant in Jenkinsville. More water service was needed to accommodate growth in the campsites, the lawsuits state.
“Jenkinsville Water Co., led by Ginyard and McBride, unfairly, unreasonably, and dishonestly used an inflated estimated water usage rate rather than the actual water usage rate … in making the decision to deny the additional 49 campsites,” the campground states in its complaint.
Another motion the campground filed seeks permission to amend its original complaint. Additional details were not contained in court documents, and will be presented during Friday’s hearing, court documents state.
The court will also hear a motion for summary judgment filed by the JWC.
In a memo, the JWC said water is a finite resource that must be regulated.
“JWC’s actions did not harm the public interests, as the Company acted prudently to ensure that the water would be conserved properly and would be available to other customers and potential customers,” the memo states.
Specifically, a 2009 letter the JWC wrote to Broad River Campground stated water usage was capped at 8,050 gallons per day, but the number would rise to 21,000 gallons per day if service to the additional sites was approved.
JWC also disputes the assertion that the letter constitutes a contract.
“The parties never had a meeting of the minds and never entered into a valid contract,” the memo states.
Broad River Campground filed another lawsuit in December 2016 that alleges the JWC has violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act. That case is still pending and it is not on the docket Friday.
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