As expected, Hennessey’s Town Board of Trustees and Utility Authority members approved a $14,000 settlement plus repairs caused by water damages to property at 300 N. Arapaho.

That property is owned by Esther Gonzalez Ramirez and Gerardo Ramirez (wife and husband) and Ana Ehrenzeller (formerly Ana Maria Gonzalez), who also filed the suit.

The two boards unanimously approved the agreement after a 25-minute executive session during a special meeting last Monday night.

None of the parties attended the board meeting.

Agenda items listed the settlement of the Nov. 16, 2023, case “as recommended by the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group.”

All four board members were present: Mayor Harold Shaw, Trustees Bert Gritz, David Jones, and Randy Bohnstedt.

Invited into the closed board session were Town Attorney Jared Harrison, Town Administrator Tiffany Tillman and Public Works Director Alyssa Kubat.

Town Clerk Kelley Vaverka was at the meeting, but waited in the front office until the closed session was over.

In addition to the cash settlement, the town agrees to:

• Remove the drain and spout channeling water onto the plaintiffs’ property located near the manhole and construct a drain and line channeling the flow of water northward in an existing public easement located in Osborn Acres that is adjacent to the east boundary of the (Ramirez/ Ehrenzeller) property;

• Fill and level the land located on the north side of the barn with 12 tons of gravel;

• Repair the fence located along the east side of the property…where the posts have been pushed out of vertical alignment and, if necessary, move the fence to the eastern boundary line, as reflected in an Oct. 11, 2024, survey, and permit entrances from Hennessey’s alley onto the north boundary of the property.

The suit filing shows that the lawsuit would be dismissed with prejudice within in three days of the plaintiffs’ receipt of $14,000, and proof that “Hennessey has instituted the bidding process.”