From the Wilson Times (9/2/10): Members of the Wilson City Council view the yearlong legal battle for public records involving its Greenlight broadband system as worthwhile to protect its investment and infrastructure.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 25, 2009 by the N.C. Cable Telecommunications Association, was settled this week when the city of Wilson paid the association $25,000 toward legal fees. The settlement ended further record requests by the association, which filed suit after it was denied a copy of a federal stimulus grant application the city filed to expand its Greenlight cable, telephone and Internet system. The city sought $19.58 million in funding but the grant was denied.
“It wasn’t so much as holding information back,” said Councilman James Johnson III. “We were waiting on information from the Department of Homeland Security to respond whether it should be a public document based on the security issue. You don’t want things like that out there in the public. It’s just frustrating that the feds didn’t have a chance to make a ruling and the court took it out of their hands.”
The association argued in court the application was a public document, according to state law. Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Milton F. “Toby” Fitch ruled in October the application was a matter of public record and ordered its release Nov. 6.