Lincoln County hopes lawsuit will help with road repairs
Published 3:35 pm Friday, October 25, 2019
Lincoln County is hoping a lawsuit will help with road repairs after a construction company allegedly damaged several roads and refused to fix them or reimburse the county for repairs.
In the complaint, Lincoln County says Chain Electric Company out of Hattiesburg owes close to $100,000 for damage its machinery caused to roads. The county says Chain was bound by an agreement that damaged roads would be repaired or the county would be reimbursed for its repairs.
In response, the company says it was one of several contractors using the roads at the time, and that it is not responsible for the $98,745 the county says it owes. It denies damaging the roads as listed in the suit, in Districts 3 and 4.
Both parties agree that Chain did repair some damage to roads.
Earlier this year, additional parties were added to the suit — Utility Lines Construction Services, Overland Contracting, Woodson, Inc., and Utility Construction Services.
Those parties requested a change of venue in September, arguing that potential jurors in the case may have a financial interest in the outcome, since the county itself has brought the lawsuit.
Circuit Court Judge David Strong is scheduled to hear the motion for a change of venue soon.