Magnolia officials have filed suit in Pike County Circuit Court against a Delaware company they say didn’t live up to its promises to install new water meters.
Mayor Anthony Witherspoon and aldermen are seeking a declaratory judgment against Johnson Controls in a suit filed March 20.
Attorney Wayne Dowdy said the city is attempting to have its contract with the company set aside because Johnson Controls prepared documents that would permit illegal acts.
“When a contract involves something illegal, it can be held void in the courts,” Dowdy said. “The main thing they put in was the requirement that all provisions in the contract remain confidential.”
However, Dowdy said that violates the Mississippi Public Records Act.
The lawsuit also claims Johnson Controls violated public bids law and acted in bad faith regarding the evaluation of Magnolia’s water systems and meters.
Violation of Public Bid Laws
The suit states that Johnson Controls did not want the city to file a public request for bids. The suit also states Magnolia followed the terms of the contract by not soliciting for other bids.
“Under the contract prepared and submitted by Johnson Controls, the parties thereto were not allowed to privately contract to contravene Mississippi’s public policy or to circumvent or disregard numerous prohibitions set forth in Mississippi’s statutory law,” the suit states.
It also claims that Johnson Controls illegally charged the city $25,320 for work performed because there were no other bids submitted for the work.
Bad Faith and Fraud
According to the lawsuit, Johnson Controls randomly selected water meters throughout the city and sent them to the CBRE Metrology Laboratory in Louisville, Ky.
The lawsuit states that CBRE acquired Global Workplace Solutions from Johnson Controls, and the company was unable to claim arms-length contract relations with its subcontractors.
The company also attempted to sell the city on efficiency lighting.
In January 2017, aldermen decided not to go any further with the contract and sever ties.
Johnson Controls has not responded to the lawsuit.
“They have 30 days to answer and it’s getting close to that, but none of their firms have filed,” Dowdy said.
He said the City of McComb went through a similar situation with Siemens Energy in 2011.
Dowdy, who also represents the McComb city board and represented the city in that lawsuit, said both of the contracts should have had an opt-out clause..
