Unresolved issues in a lawsuit settlement with a Hennessey family over drainage problems was the apparent reason for an executive session at the Tuesday night meeting of the Hennessey Board of Trustees.

The agenda listed a civil negligence lawsuit filed Nov. 16, 2023, by 300 N. Arapaho St. landowners Esther Gonzalez Ramirez and Gerardo Ramirez (wife and husband) and Ana Ehrenzeller (formerly Ana Maria Gonzalez).

The town first received a complaint from Esther Gonzalez Ramirez at a town board meeting.

“Why was the builder allowed to build that before the ground was ever level?” she asked at their August 2022 meeting.

“All that water will come into my house,” she said about the new sewer line going in.

Their suit claimed the town had installed a new sewer line and drainage culvert which “caused flooding, erosion and damage to land and livestock” in the Osborn Addition.

Also, the family had “not given permission” for the town’s new sewer line to be on their property.

No comments were made this month after trustees met with their attorney, Jared Harrison, for 25 minutes in the closed-tothe- public session.

No Action After Closed Session Trustees took no action on another agenda item to discuss, or act, on a “General Release and Settlement Agreement” with the family.

None of those family members attended this month’s meeting.

Trustees at the July 8 meeting were Mayor Randy Bohnstedt, Vice Mayor John Peach, David Jones and Harold Shaw. Absent was Bert Gritz.

Town Administrator Tiffany Rowen and Public Works Director Alyssa Kubat were at the meeting, but not included in the executive session. Both were invited in the December 2024 executive session on a settlement with the family.

Apparently new issues came up after last month’s town meeting when Rowen told trustees: “The Gonzales project is complete. We have completed everything we were supposed to do in our settlement agreement with them.”

Also, court records show the family’s case was dismissed this year on March 7.

Town Paid $14,000 and Had to Make Repairs During a special meeting Dec. 23, 2024, town trustee and Utilities Authority members unanimously approved, at the recommendation of their insurance provider Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group, the following:

• Pay the family $14,000;

• Removal of 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 Addition 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 filing showed that the lawsuit would be dismissed with prejudice within three days of the plaintiffs’ receipt of $14,000 and proof that “Hennessey has instituted the bidding process.”

“Don’t Apologize for Me” Says Harold Shaw That’s what Shaw told Bohnstedt near the end of the meeting.

He referred to Bohnstedt (who after being elected mayor at the May meeting) apologized for comments that Shaw had made to the county commissioner and the police chief while he’d been mayor for a year before Bohnstedt was elected to that job.

“A lot of people have asked why I didn’t say something then,” Shaw said, “and I didn’t because I didn’t want people to think I didn’t support you as a mayor, because I’m man enough to take my own consequences, no matter what happens.

“But from now on, I wish you wouldn’t apologize for anything I’ve said, or say. I said it, I meant it and you know I did.”

Bohnstedt said he didn’t actually “mention” Shaw’s name.

“But everybody else knew,” Shaw said.

“Well, that’s not of my telling,” said Bohnstedt. “When you made those phone calls and said what you said you represented the town, and me, and that’s why I said what I did.”

Shaw said, “There are no hard feelings,” and the two shook hands.

That May meeting was when Bohnstedt was nominated for mayor and another nomination wasn’t accepted because of a Roberts Rules of Order discrepancy.

Bohnstedt was elected in a 5-0 vote at the first meeting with five board members in a year.

That was after John Peach was first elected to a two-year term and Jones and Shaw were re-elected to four-year terms.

Bohnstedt and Gritz are holdover members and have two years left of their terms.

Other Business

This month’s agenda was lighter than usual.

Listed on the consent agenda were (minutes, claims, agreement with Hennessey Public Schools to provide a school resource officer) trustees voted to rehire Arledge and Associates to conduct their 202425 annual audit.

The town treasurer’s report was listed on the agenda, but it wasn’t available.

Rowen told the board there was a technical issue.

Also At the Meeting

Officers included Treasurer Kelley Vaverka, Clerk Shelley Burch (and office manager) and Assistant Clerk Katie Walters.

In the audience: Kelly Bullis, Ariel Pitts and District 2 Kingfisher County Commissioner Mike Sparks.