Following a story that was printed in the July 29 issue regarding a lawsuit settlement between the Anson County Arts Council and the town of Wadesboro, members of the arts council reached out to The Anson Record to clarify some of the details involved.

Roe Boothby, treasurer of the arts council, said that the amount quoted by an anonymous source was “grossly exaggerated.”

A source told The Anson Record that the settlement amounted to $247,000, though Boothby and others with the arts council maintain it was a much lower figure.

Both the arts council and town representatives signed a confidentiality agreement as part of the settlement, so they cannot release many details of the case. The lawsuit was filed in 2012 and stemmed from an agreement between the town and the arts council regarding a grant application. The grant was supposed to fund renovations to the Ansonia Theatre, and the arts council had taken out a loan in anticipation of procuring the grant.

“Everything we got [from the settlement] was applied to the loan that we had taken out,” Boothby explained, adding that the lawsuit was settled two years ago. “I don’t think we’re enemies with the town. We came to a very amicable agreement.”

Boothby also stressed that because the entire settlement was applied to the loan, the arts council still needs its sponsors and is still heavily involved in its annual fundraising campaign. “We need our sponsors,” she said.

Past president of the arts council Leslie Cappell further clarified, “We are all on the same side and are working very amicably together.”

She added, “If we’d gotten that much [$247,000], we wouldn’t be fundraising.”

By Abby Cavenaugh

acavenaugh@civitasmedia.com

Editor Abby Cavenaugh may be reached at 704-694-2161, ext. 2301 or on Twitter @TheAnsonRecord.