Dover, Dover Chemical release joint statement as case is dismissed
DOVER – Dover Chemical and the city of Dover have released joint statement that absolves the company of any wrongdoing and seems to blame former city officials for the 4 ½-year legal battle that ended this week.
Neither Mayor Shane Gunnoe nor Dover Chemical attorney Ryan McElduff wanted to comment more specifically. McElduff says the sides worked on the language for months.
“Dover Chemical is happy to put this behind us but disappointed that we had to go through this process over all these years,” he said.
“The joint statement was heavily negotiated between legal representatives of the City of Dover and DCC as part of our settlement agreement,” Gunnoe said. “The statement is not intended to reflect the opinions, or beliefs, of each individual current or former elected official within the City of Dover. With that said, we look forward to bringing this matter to a close and moving on in the best interest of the residents of the City of Dover.”
On Tuesday, Judge Elizabeth Thomakos dismissed Dover Chemical’s 2021 lawsuit against the city at the company’s request and following a settlement agreement.
Dover Chemical won the main argument in the dispute earlier this year when Thomakos ruled the company didn’t have to pay $1.1 million in punitive electric surcharges enacted by Dover in 2020.
A recently-approved settlement resolves an additional claim by Dover Chemical with no further financial obligations to either party, according to the joint statement.
The statement says Dover’s former law director made false statements about “a conspiracy involving illegal and improper conduct by city officials and Dover Chemical.” It goes on to say that evidence suggests the prior city administration “for its own reasons and without consulting either Dover Chemical or City Council, conveyed certain assets at Dover Chemical’s facility to Dover Chemical.” The former Dover officials are not named in the statement, but Dover’s former law director is Doug O’Meara and the prior city administration was led by former Mayor Richard Homrighausen.
The statement says City Council has never seen any evidence of illegal activity by Dover Chemical or of a conspiracy on the part of the company to receive improper benefits.
BASIS FOR PENALTIES ‘PROVED … FALSE’
City Council in 2020 agreed to punish Dover Chemical with the electric surcharge after O’Meara said the company had received improper benefits from the city for decades. However, Wednesday’s joint statement says “the litigation proved those statements were false” and Council “has never seen any evidence that Dover Chemical illegally or unethically accepted electricity, materials, or services from the City.” The statement also says the prior administration conveyed assets to Dover Chemical for its own unspecified reasons.
LEGAL COSTS
The city of Dover spent $875,188.57 over 4 1/2 years defending itself in the lawsuit filed by Dover Chemical and pursuing counterclaims against the company, according to city officials.
Mayor Shane Gunnoe addressed that on Monday.
“Our obligation through the entire process has been to protect Dover taxpayers,” he said. “We have saved $1.9 million by reducing expenses at the power plant. Every dollar that was spent on legal fees has been more than offset – has been doubled in savings for our residents in other places. Our rates are lower than they were the day I took over here.”
Dover Chemical attorney Ryan McElduff said he was not at liberty to share how much the case cost the company. He said it was significantly less than what the city paid.