Attorneys argue the $25M challenge

The squabble over the proceeds from a $25M Oconee County general obligation bond issue is in the hands of a circuit judge, after attorneys for both sides made pre-trial motions this afternoon in in the Common Pleas Court.  Tenth Circuit Judge McIntosh intends to read a number of old cases that the attorneys cite in arguments for their positions.  On behalf of one dozen Oconee residents, a public interest lawyer today alleged that county government violates the state constitution if it uses the bond money to extend sewer service to the southern end of the county – in particular Oconee’s I-85 corridor.  That’s where county officials envision piped sewer will attract the kinds of economic development that other counties enjoy along the interstate highway.  But who in Oconee would actually benefit is a major disagreement between plaintiffs’ Attorney Carpenter of the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation and attorneys for Oconee County.  Defense lawyers Wilkins and Davis say the public interest group and the other plaintiffs have no standing, as they allowed a 20-day appeal period to expire after the bonds were issued.  Attorney James Carpenter contends the obligation to retire the bond debt should be applied only to those within the specific area of the sewer expansion.  But defense lawyers Billy Wilkins and Lane Davis said there is a general benefit to the entire county when economic development brings new jobs and a stronger tax base. And they also accused the plaintiffs of trying to invade the province of the elected county council which held three bond issue readings and allowed for public comment within that period.  Their lawyer, Carpenter, asked Judge Lawton McIntosh to issue a temporary injunction against the county, while the defense moved for a dismissal of the challenge.  Davis referred to it as a “dead-on-arrival” motion.