Judge dismisses Lewes BPW lawsuit against city

A suit filed by the Lewes Board of Public Works against the City of Lewes was dismissed Jan. 27.

The BPW filed a lawsuit in July asking the court to uphold its authority to manage the city’s utilities without interference from mayor and city council.

In dismissing the suit, Superior Court Judge E. Scott Bradley wrote in a 14-page decision: “Although the city has technically prevailed, it is unclear what it gains from this victory.”

Bradley found the BPW’s charter only authorizes it to sue ratepayers for fees and penalties, or its own directors or officers for actions made in bad faith. It does not provide general authority to sue or be sued by anyone else, and so the BPW has no legal standing to file a suit against the city. 

“It would be inappropriate for this court to create such a provision out of whole cloth, and I decline to do so here,” Bradley wrote, noting the charter implies the BPW and city are to defend lawsuits as one entity in the name of the city.

Bradley did not offer a ruling on whether the city could force the BPW to require annexation or a pre-annexation agreement prior to providing utilities to a landowner outside the city, which was the central question the BPW sought to have answered.

He wrote the city presented arguments as to why the BPW should enforce a pre-annexation agreement, but the city lacks the ability to force the BPW to do it.

“This leads me to the unfortunate conclusion that my decision here does not represent an end to the litigation in this matter,” Bradley wrote.

Mayor Ted Becker said the next step is for the city and BPW to try to iron out the differences.

“We can move forward without spending more money on legal fees,” he said. “Now, we just need to sit back down at the table and keep working on it.”

BPW President Preston Lee said the board is still evaluating the judge’s decision and will soon sit down to discuss its next steps.

Bradley used his ruling to bemoan the legal battle.

“If two heads are greater than one, then a two-headed enemy is truly a formidable foe,” he wrote, noting that Greek mythological hero Heracles fought a nine-headed hydra, three-headed giant and a pair of multi-headed dogs as penance for an unspeakable act. “I now face a similar being, although my task is arguably more difficult. Rather than fight this two-headed creature before me, I am called upon to settle a disagreement between its minds. My only wish is that I knew what wrong I committed to deserve this fate.”