Suit seeks information from St John's Water Company

The St. John's Water Co. faces yet another lawsuit stemming from its plans to build a 30-inch waterline to Johns Island. This time, island residents are suing the company for failing to comply with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit stemmed from residents' attempts to get the names and addresses of the utility's members. That information is key to getting enough signatures to force a public vote on the waterline. Some islanders feel the proposed 30-inch line is too large and will speed suburban development on the island. Utility officials defend the size, saying a smaller line might not meet all of the island's future needs. A Charleston County zoning board sided with the residents and refused to permit the 30-inch line, but the utility took the county to court and won. An appeal is scheduled to be argued before the South Carolina Court of Appeals in mid September. The new lawsuit argues that the utility must comply with the Freedom of Information Act because it has received federal or state grants in the past and because it's seeking a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to build the line. St. John's Water Co. attorney Gaines Smith said the utility will fight the suit. "I still do not believe that we come under the Freedom of Information Act by law," he said. The plaintiffs -- Sam Brownlee, Julia Grant and Thomas Legare -- all ran for utility board seats last year and lost. The lawsuit says their attorney, Cindy Floyd, sent the utility a March 17 letter seeking not only members' names and addresses but also the utility's written planning policies and goals, information in any account that deals with public money, minutes of all proceedings and votes that dealt with public money and audits conducted to seek the waterline grant. Smith said he doesn't think the utility has any intention of providing that information. "I haven't heard any comment that they were anticipating doing that, but by the same token, I haven't heard anyone down there say, 'Absolutely we're not going to do it,' " he said. "If we decided to furnish that information, then every month we would have someone else looking for something else." There's a possibility the waterline issue could be settled before the legal wrangling finishes. Grant is one of several island residents hoping to collect enough signatures from utility members to force a public vote. Grant said their latest attempt, submitted last month, fell a few signatures short. "They're telling us now we need a few more names because they've had new accounts open, which is strange because they're saying they're not opening any new accounts." The proposed waterline would cross the Stono River from James Island and stretch 12 miles along River Road to Bohicket Road. Because the project is in limbo, St. John's has turned down some requests for new water taps, and housing developers on the island are scrambling for a solution that keeps their projects on track.

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