July 19, 2008
City examining suit ruling By RICHARD ECKE Tribune Staff Writer
City government is studying a lawsuit in a public records ruling it lost, City Manager Greg Doyon said.
"We just got it today," Doyon said Friday. "Legal counsel will review it."
District Judge E. Wayne Phillips ruled last month that the city improperly refused to release draft documents to members of the Montana Environmental Information Center last year.
The ruling was announced this week.
In 2007, a MEIC member and a staff member asked to see documents covering the city of Great Falls' relationship with the Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative, which wants to build a coal-fired power plant eight miles east of Great Falls.
The MEIC particularly wanted to know what kind of development agreement the city had with SME, since the city has invested $2 million in development costs as a potential part-owner of the power plant. The city is a member of SME, along with five Montana rural electric co-ops.
City representatives refused to release draft documents to the MEIC.
Doyon said City Attorney David Gliko is examining the ruling, and copies were made available to city commissioners.
The commission may hold a special meeting next Wednesday to discuss the ruling and decide whether to appeal, Doyon said. He noted an appeal would cost the city extra money. A tentative time for the meeting would be 1:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, depending on how many commissioners would be available.
Doyon added that several city officials plan to attend a monthly SME meeting next week in Billings. The city still needs to decide whether it wants to join a new development group proposed by SME that would work to develop the power plant, he said. The city also hopes to clarify its relationship with SME, Doyon said.
On the heels of the ruling, the MEIC and Citizens for Clean Energy gave the city clerk a request to examine records Friday morning. Doyon said the city will respond to it promptly once commissioners meet to discuss a possible appeal.