OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - A jury has found Chickasaw County owes Ausbern Construction $570,293 in costs and damages in lawsuit over road work in the county.
Ausbern Construction, owned by Terry Ausbern of Okolona, sought payment from the board of supervisors for work his company did over three years ago on a county road in northwestern Chickasaw County.
A jury in Lafayette County, where the trial was moved, found this past week that Chickasaw County must pay Ausbern $387,793 in construction costs and damages. The jury also awarded Ausbern $182,500 in damages from County Engineer Ed Springer.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports (https://bit.ly/1li3WpR ) the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors will Thursday in Okolona to discuss a possible appeal or how to pay Ausbern.
At the heart of the case was the payment for grading and resurfacing 1.39 miles of County Road 4. Ausbern’s bid of $396,566 was awarded by the county on Nov. 23, 2010.
Ausbern’s attorneys argued the company failed to get $14.9 million in potential projects due to the unpaid bill’s impact on Ausbern’s bonding capacity.
Ausbern Construction is owned by the family of former Chickasaw board of supervisors Attorney Elizabeth Ausbern. That circumstance prompted the county to hire an outside law firm. Ausbern no longer serves as the board attorney.
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Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, https://djournal.com
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