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SEMO.net's Dispute Hearing was held as scheduled with the Municipal Utilities Advisory Board. In attendance for the Advisory Board Dispute Hearing was Councilman Matthews, Chairman Bob Christian, Tucker Davis, and Richard Landers. Charles Moffit was on vacation. City Manager Bagby did not attend. I was allowed to make my presentation about the multiple accounting errors I believe Mr. Bach made two years ago in setting the rates for Open Access and claiming that my company was subsidized. The board was attentive and engaged during the entire meeting and I appreciated the opportunity to share my dispute officially/publicly.

Though the city has not set the location for the dispute hearing, they have confirmed that the date and time of the hearing will be July 2nd at 2pm. For more info see: City’s Next Tactic. Jury Trial Delayed. Public Hearing Instead.

As I've consistently said, the City doesn't want to go to jury trial on this case. This part of the case is about the disputed portion of our bills from September through May. We paid those bills based on the amounts required by Missouri Law and then submitted a dispute letter for the remaining balance in accordance with the City's dispute policy. 

Just wanted to give an update. Depositions were held last week and the jury trial is scheduled for June 6th and 7th. This part of the trial will be to determine if we owe any additional money to the City of Poplar Bluff. Each of the bills we paid the portion that we felt was the right amount and then disputed the remaining amounts on that invoice per the City's "payment dispute" policy. The city has sued my company for those disputed amounts. I know we will present a solid case, but who knows how the jury will perceive the evidence presented. We welcome any and all interested parties to come and listen to the testimony on June 6. Brian

For those that do not get the Daily American Republic, the following letter appeared in today's newspaper (5/1/2012) regarding our City Manager actively campaigning this past City Council election cycle. The final sentence wraps up the letter: But the core question must be asked: Do City Council members have to align their vote with Bagby or risk the power of City Hall campaigning against them in April? TO THE EDITOR: The Opinion page of April 1, 2012, contained a half-page opinion by City Manager Doug Bagby. The DAR obviously accepted this letter in his official capacity as City Manager by posting his photo and title. Plus, average citizens are not typically allotted a half-page for their opinion.