During the executive session at its last regular meeting on Monday, November 1st, Sapulpa City Council voted to move forward with pursuing legal action against Taneha Utilities Authority for its $608,725.17 past due balance with the City for sewer services, plus other interest and fees.
On Monday, November 8th, City Attorney David Widdoes filed a petition on behalf of the City and the Sapulpa Municipal Authority for breach of contract against Taneha in Creek County District Court. Judge Doug Golden has been assigned to the case.
The Taneha area, legally styled a “public trust,” is scattered from southwestern Tulsa County to northeastern Creek County, and covers a swathe of Sapulpa north of town along Frankoma Road. It provides sewer services to approximately 1,100 residential and commercial customers, about 200 of whom are located within Sapulpa city limits and are expected to be affected by this situation.
The petition states that TUA “operates and maintains a sewer waste disposal collection and distribution system in Creek County” and that the City believes that it bills its utility customers monthly for these services, based on past remitted payments to the City.
The City “treats and disposes of sewer effluent discharged from the Defendant” pursuant to a signed contract for sewer services between the two entities dated July 7th, 2003. Sapulpa bills TUA monthly for the treatment and disposal of this discharge, which passes through the SMA’s Master Flow Meter at the connection point, and which the City accepts. The sewer flow meter is read for billing purposes once a month to “calculate the flow measurement of sewage from the Defendant for the previous month.” The billings are due and payable within 30 days of this transaction.
Essentially, the City alleges that TUA is billing its customers for these services and receives their payments each month, but that it is not remitting those payments to the City, and has therefore defaulted on its contract.
The petition states that as of February 5th, 2019, Taneha’s balance with the City was $0, after a payment of $43,106, but that its bill has not been paid in full since. From that time until November 3rd of this year, the City has billed TUA a total of $1,439,694.02 but has only received $830,968.85, leaving an unpaid and past-due balance of $608,725.17.
The City alleges that although it has demanded payment from TUA, TUA has “failed, neglected, and refused to make payments necessary to cure” its default. Furthermore, the City continues to provide TUA “sewer treatment and disposal services…and further unpaid amounts…will continue to accrue during the pendency of this action.”
Therefore, the City has asked the Court for two “claims of relief,” the first being that judgment be rendered in its favor and against TUA for the amount of the past-due balance, pre and post-judgment interest, sewer services incurred during the length of the court case, all court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
The second claim for which the City has asked is a Declaratory Judgment from the Court so that it may “lawfully terminate” its sewer agreement with TUA. “Upon such termination the City will pull the Master Flow Meter and no longer accept effluent discharge” from TUA, and TUA will have to have obtained these services from an alternate source.
When Sapulpa Times contacted TUA, the office manager stated that she had been aware of the lawsuit for only a couple of days and that she would “not be in a position to answer any questions” until she had spoken with her Board and its attorney.
This is an ongoing story and will be updated periodically.
