Page 26 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch August 23, 2013 Perdue Awarded $28K In Fees Snow Hill High Project Close By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR BERLIN – A landmark civil suit inched closer to closure this week when a federal court clerk awarded Perdue over $28,000 in various legal fees expended to defend the case. In March 2010, the New Yorkbased Waterkeeper Alliance, along with the Assateague Coastal Trust and the Assateague Coastkeeper, filed suit in U.S. District Court against Perdue and Berlin’s Hudson Farm, a contract factory farm operation of about 80,000 birds. The suit was filed after sampling in ditches adjacent to the property allegedly revealed high levels of harmful fecal coliform and E. coli that violated the Clean Water Act. After three years of legal wrangling, the case finally went to trial last October and concluded after 10 days of testimony during which experts on both sides testified on the merits of the case. In late December, U.S. District Court Judge William Nickerson ruled in favor of Perdue and Alan Hudson, opining the Waterkeeper Alliance was not successful in proving a Clean Water Act violation. In early January, each of the defendants filed separate motions seeking reimbursement for attorney fees and other costs associated with litigating the three-year case. Perdue sought $2.5 million in attorney fees and other costs from the plaintiff, while the Hudson Farm sought $500,000. Included in Perdue’s reimbursement attempt against the Waterkeeper Alliance was $37,955 in fees in witness depositions and trial transcripts, for example. Perdue was also seeking nearly $76,000 in fees for the production and presentation of documents and graphic trial exhibits, but the Waterkeeper Alliance earlier objected to those costs, asserting they were costs to be borne by the defendant in the litigation of the case and Perdue dropped that reimbursement package. Nonetheless, Perdue pushed forward in the pursuit of nearly $38,000 in fees the company spent for deposition and trial transcripts. However, the Waterkeeper Alliance objected to over $11,000 of the requested reimbursement and a new figure amenable to each party of $26,485 was reached. The Fourth Circuit clerk this week formally awarded Perdue just over $28,000 in various legal fees the company expended. While the ruling this week does bring some measure of closure to the case that has been plodding along for over three years, there is still the issue of reimbursement for the Hudson family for their various legal costs. No ruling on those costs have been handed down. By TRAVIS BROWN STAFF WRITER SNOW HILL – Bids for the renovation of Snow Hill High School (SHHS) have officially been reviewed and accepted by the Worcester County Board of Education. The total price tag, including alternates, comes in at $39,975,478, nearly $1.4 million under last year’s estimates. If the bids are also accepted by the county next month, renovations could begin as early as January. Though the bids still need to be accepted by the County Commissioners at their Sept. 3 meeting, school board members were vocal about the fact that the marathon to a new SHHS finally seems to have a finish line. “I have to say, as a Snow Hill High School graduate myself, the people of Snow Hill have been waiting a long time for this to become a reality,” said Board of Education member Bob Hulburd. “So I understand we’re talking about January about breaking ground and perhaps getting started. That’s awesome. I think it’s wonderful and I just want to compliment you all on what you’ve done so far.” When the county decided to delay renovations last year due to budget concerns, Hulburd was critical of the decision, citing the age and worsening condition of the high school and the commissioners’ promise that it was a priority. But at this point, a new school seems likely in the near future, with the board pleased by the bidding process, especially since it is clocking in $1,376,500 below the estimate. Another plus, said Joe Price, Board of Education Facilities Planner, is that this is the first school renovation project he can remember that had bids for every service needed returned in the first round. “This is the first time we hit all the bid packages for one project without having to rebid one or two because we didn’t get an envelope,” he said. Price credited the efforts of Oak Contracting in advertising the project and shepherding the bids. As an added bonus, about 40 percent of the contractors selected are based on the Eastern Shore, with the remaining 60 percent on the Western Shore. Minority business enterprise participation in the process had a rate of 13.4 percent, above the board’s goal of 8.6 percent. “A total of $5,003,981 of the construction work will be executed by certified minority business subcontractors,” said Price. Next on the schedule is the commission’s Sept. 3 meeting, where it will be asked to also accept the bids. If they do, pre-construction will likely begin in December, with groundbreaking for Jan. 6.