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Putnam County hires Goodwin & Goodwin to advise on Pilot travel center traffic dispute; no county funds committed
Summary
The commission approved an agreement to allow Goodwin & Goodwin to represent Putnam County’s interests related to traffic and legal issues at a Pilot travel center; the county will not allocate taxpayer funds to the representation, commissioners said.
The Putnam County Commission on April 29 approved a representation agreement with the law firm Goodwin & Goodwin to advise the county on matters arising from the Pilot travel center and associated traffic concerns.
Attorney Ben Ware of Goodwin & Goodwin told commissioners the firm had been representing Nitro Construction Services in a pending lawsuit against the Pilot travel center and said the firm had learned of the extent of the traffic issues through that work. Ware identified himself as a Putnam County resident and offered to answer questions about the proposed agreement.
Staff member Larry confirmed the contract is a legal representation agreement and stated that the arrangement as presented does not obligate Putnam County taxpayers to pay for the representation. After limited discussion and a motion to authorize the commission president to sign the agreement, the commission voted in favor and the motion passed.
Commissioner Pearson temporarily left the room and recused himself from the subsequent discussion of potential conflicts of interest before returning later in the meeting. The agreement was entered in open session and requires the commission president’s signature to finalize. The commission did not discuss litigation strategy in open session beyond approving the representation agreement and confirming that no county funds would be expended under the current terms.
