FAIRLEE — A settlement that brought to end a nearly two-year legal battle over a failed water tank in Fairlee presented the best option for the town to move forward, Selectboard Chairman Peter Berger said on Monday.
Under the settlement, the town will receive nearly $900,000 from several parties in the suit, which was filed by the town in 2017 over a 265,000 gallon water tank that began to fail just 10 years after construction.
The tank was supposed to have a life span of up to 75 years.
“Based on the situation, I think the town did pretty well,” Berger said in a phone interview. “From our standpoint, all parties agreed to pay into the settlement.”
Berger said each party brought “experts” to the mediation talks and the town presented a strong case.
“The town’s expert made a straightforward presentation on what was found when an inspection (of the tank) was done” Berger said.
The agreement mandates that either the business or its insurer will pay the amounts in the settlement. The largest payments will be made by Newstress Inc of Epsom, N.H. ($389,000); Engineering Ventures of Lebanon ($210,500); and Aldrich and Elliot P.C. of Essex Junction, Vt. ($140,500).
Two other firms will pay smaller amounts of $75,000 and $80,000. Payments must be made within 30 days, according to the agreement.
The town had the tank designed and constructed in 2003 and 2004 off Bald Top Road. Cracks were noticed soon after construction, and an inspection in 2015 found chunks of concrete from the ceiling in the tank’s interior. The town spent $800,000 to build the structure.
Though no decision has been made yet, Berger said the settlement proceeds could go toward paying off the bond for the tank with the remainder placed in a water department reserve fund.
Berger said it was important for the town to seek a definitive outcome and an end to costly attorneys fees.
“I think the key point is if we didn’t reach (an agreement in) mediation, all bets were off if we went to court,” Berger said. “The costs would have kept increasing and we would still be paying lawyers. So we made a decision to aggressively try to reach mediation with the parties.”
The town also received a total of $5,000 — $1,000 each — from the parties for reimbursement of mediation costs.
The town last year approved a $3.6 million bond to build a new tank and make other improvements to the town’s water system, with construction predicted to begin this season.
The new tank was built on the pad of the one that failed, which was dismantled.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
