A District Court judge heard arguments today on a motion to dismiss from the City of Carroll, the Carroll City Council and City Manager, Mike Pogge-Weaver on a lawsuit filed by Dr. Richard Collison, a vocal opponent of the Carroll Library project. Collison’s petition brings five complaints against the defendants: negligent misrepresentation and nondisclosure, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent nondisclosure, breach of fiduciary duty and equitable estoppel. Prior to arguments, Associate Judge, Stephen Oeth, thanked the parties for making the trip to Boone and explained that holding court there was the only way they could schedule the hearing on an expedited basis. Jason Craig, an attorney with Ahlers & Cooney and representing the defendants, called the lawsuit a “Hail Mary” by Collison. He says the basis of the claim is founded on hypothetical increases to taxes and alleged shortfalls in funding for the project. He described the lawsuit as attempting to runaround statutory procedures and said allowing the lawsuit to proceed would enable individual citizens to prevent government institutions from performing their legal duties. Leslie Behaunek, an attorney with Nyemaster and Goode and representing Collison, explained Collison is only trying to hold the city accountable to promises made leading up to the August 2017 referendum. She says the city made statements leading up to the vote, which passed with nearly 62 percent of voters in favor of issuing $3.8 million in bonds to help fund the estimated $6.85 million renovations to the library and city hall, to entice a yes vote. Behaunek argued that Collison is a taxpayer, voter and resident of Carroll and has a right to contest the issue when public money is not being spent as promised. Craig answered, saying Collison’s claims are only valid if there was some illegal use of taxpayer money, and the plaintiffs have not yet identified a single instance of this. The City of Carroll intends to award a contract for construction on Sept. 28, and requested a decision on the motion be made by Sept. 26. The judge said he could not guarantee a decision would be made before that time.
