THOMASVILLE — A longstanding lawsuit against the City of Thomasville finally may be over.

In a 4-1 vote Monday evening, city council members agreed to pay a $150,000 settlement agreement to three plaintiffs. 

Mayor Jay Flowers and council members Terry Scott, Todd Mobley and Scott Chastain voted to approve the settlement agreement with plaintiffs Howell Ferguson, Kevin Fuchs and Geoffrey Young. Wanda Warren voted against the agreement. 

“it’s been hanging over our heads for years,” Flowers said. “it’s good to get it behind us. There is no way really to not settle at some point. The city was at fault. We would have to pay now or pay later.”

In exchange for the settlement agreement, city attorney Tim Sanders said the plaintiffs would release the city from all claims to date. 

Two previous attempts to adopt the settlement agreement failed under the previous council. Because former mayor Greg Hobbs and former council member David Hufstetler were named as defendants, they could not vote on the issue. 

That left just three sitting council members — Flowers, Mobley and Warren — to decide. City rules dictate a majority of council members must vote in favor of a motion in order for it to pass. That majority is three, even if only three council members are eligible to vote.

Warren, who voted against the motion Monday evening, also voted not to approve the settlement agreement back in October and November 2021.

The settlement agreement last fall called for a $110,000 payment to the plaintiffs to cover their legal fees. 

“Each time you wait, you pay more,” Flowers said. “This has definitely cost us more than it would have cost in November when we had an opportunity to settle.” 

The original suit was filed seeking the city’s records on actions prior to approving the Pinetree Boulevard projects in May 2018. Ferguson, Fuchs and Young charged that the city and in particular Hobbs and Hufstetler violated open records acts. 

“It really reflects on the opportunity for the public to know, because this is open records requests that started the whole process,” said Flowers, who was on the council at the time of the incidents in question. “Part of being an elected official is that you agree that everything you do is available to the public and available to scrutiny. You have to be prepared for that. 

“Now that we’re through this, I believe we’ve all learned a lot. The city has learned a lot. The individual council members have certainly learned a lot. We’re glad to be able to put this behind us and move on.”