A 2012 lawsuit filed by the Anson County Arts Council against the town of Wadesboro over grant funding has been settled, according to the plaintiff in the case.
The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 21, 2012, and stemmed from a grant that the arts council never received for the Ansonia Theatre. In 2012, a member of the arts council told The Anson Record that the council had been talking to the town for “months on end,” but had never gotten a response.
The arts council’s attorney, Fred Parker IV, said the council had taken a loan from Anson Bank & Trust (now Uwharrie Bank) in the amount of $200,000, with the expectation that the grant would be secured from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a condition of the grant, HUD required that the town of Wadesboro handle the arts council’s required matching funds. However, the grant application was not turned in by the deadline, even though the arts council had procured the loan.
The arts council was seeking no less than $198,201 plus $10,000 in damages from the town.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations speaking on condition of anonymity said the town agreed to pay a $247,000 settlement. Neither the arts council nor town officials would confirm the figure.
Town Manager Alex Sewell referred inquiries to the town attorney, Jeff Carpenter, who did not respond to requests for information by press time.
Roe Boothby with the arts council said she could only confirm that there was a settlement, and said that one of the conditions of the settlement was that all involved had to sign a confidentiality agreement.