TOLEDO, Ohio — A year and a half after the city of Toledo filed suit against Block Communications regarding a dispute over the cost of Summit Street beautification, the parent company of Buckeye Broadband, city officials announced they have dropped the lawsuit.
Retired Common Pleas Judge James J. McMonagle mediated the dispute between Buckeye and the city of Toledo. In a press release, the city announced that, at the expense of both parties spending substantial legal fees should litigation continue, the city has decided to dismiss the lawsuit. Buckeye has agreed to pay the city $300,000, approximately a third of the nearly one million dollars for which the city initially sued.
In the press release, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz acknowledged Buckeye "did nothing wrong by asserting in good faith that the City, not Buckeye, was responsible for the cost of relocating Buckeye's lines under applicable law."
The press release also stated Kapszukiewicz apologized to Buckeye for "any negative perception the filing of the City's lawsuit created" and commended Buckeye's continued service to the community.
Similarly, representatives from Buckeye also said they were pleased the matter was resolved and looks forward to "working cooperatively with the City in the future...[and] continues to invest in the metropolitan Toledo area."
The dispute began after city officials and Buckeye negotiated the cost of Summit Street beautification and construction ahead of the 2021 Solheim Cup golf tournament. In addition to beautification and aesthetic changes to Summit Street, construction included traffic and roadway improvements.
The construction required the relocation of Buckeye fiber optic cables; after discussing the matter, the city informed buckeye that the city of Toledo would cover the cost of relocating the cables using taxpayer money. The project was approved in May 2020.
Construction proceeded and Buckeye assisted the project by providing hundreds of hours of engineering time. The city paid Block Communications $973,000 for Buckeye to move its cables.
Following the decision to pay for Buckeye to relocate cables, several members of city council, including Toledo City Councilman Rob Ludeman, expressed concern because other utility companies, including AT&T, Toledo Edison, Columbia Gas, Verizon, and the Zayo Group were not reimbursed for work they conducted on Summit Street. Records show that the costs incurred by other utility companies were close to $600,000.
"What I fear is that those other utilities will now want theirs," Ludeman told WTOL 11 in June 2021.
Meanwhile, Buckeye claimed the city of Toledo was legally responsible for the costs they paid and suggested the lawsuit to reclaim the money was indicative of political pressure.
"But now it appears that after experiencing some political pressure, the administration is backpedaling," Keith Wilkowski, vice president of legal and governmental affairs for Block Communications, said in June 2021.
On June 22, 2021 City Council voted unanimously to move forward with a lawsuit against Block Communications for the nearly one million dollar cost of cable and equipment relocation. City council also approved $75,000 to hire legal council.
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