Seneca threatens legal action against its fellow JRSA members

An attorney for Seneca says the city’s fellow members of the Oconee Joint Regional Sewer Authority have violated terms of the governing agreement that created the authority, specifically the provision in a memorandum of understanding that the voting rights reflect representation based on the number of users of the system.  The letter, from Lane Davis of the Nelson Mullins law firm, was addressed November 9 to officials of Walhalla and Westminster, as well as the JRSA executive director, Chris Eleazer.  A copy of the letter was obtained by 101.7/WGOG NEWS.  Seneca member and Chairman Scott Moulder, at a November 1 meeting of the JRSA commission, entertained a motion to grant his city increased commission representation. The vote tied 4-4, with the outcome a consensus for JRSA attorney Larry Brandt to study the by-laws and render an opinion.  The letter from Seneca attorney Davis a week later reads, in part, “At present, Seneca’s customers (also predominantly its citizens) comprise 65.1% of OJRSA’s users but only receive representation equaling 44% of the corresponding voting rights of the Authority’s Commission.  Seneca likewise pays OJRSA 68% of its overall revenue; yet Seneca’s customers receive 24% less in voting representation than contractually required….What this means is that Seneca’s constituents are substantially underrepresented on the commission.  What this means also is that Westminster and Walhalla users are conversely overrepresented.”  Unless Walhalla and Westminster take steps to realign the commission, Seneca’s attorney warns, his city will start legal action.  Seneca also claims a further breach of the governance agreement’s I&I provisions (inflow and infiltration) and demands the JRSA take immediate efforts to compel Walhalla and Westminster to comply with their obligations to repay past due amounts for what it calls three non-compliant years that remain unpaid or underpaid or, again, incur legal action.  The issue of commission representation has been a sore point between the largest city, Seneca, and the smaller ones, Walhalla and Westminster.  At the November 1 meeting, Walhalla’s Lamar Bailes engaged in a short, but tense exchange with Seneca’s Moulder, warning the Seneca administrator that he risks the harmony and cooperation with which the municipal members have conducted themselves over the 40-year life of both the county sewer commission and its successor, in, 2007, the Oconee Joint Regional Sewer Authority.