WATER WAR: Chief Justice Authorizes Special Court

The next battle of the Water War likely will be fought in Hampton before a panel of judges.  On July 13, Judge Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, named three judges to hear the case of the City of Falls Church versus Fairfax County, et. al.

The chief justice cited Virginia Code § 15.2-2135, which states in part:

The special court to hear a case between jurisdictions involving a dam or water impoundment shall be composed of three judges of circuit courts remote from the jurisdictions of the parties involved.  The judges shall be designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The special court shall sit without a jury.

The ruling is a victory for the City, which had petitioned in May for the convening of a special court.  The Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA) had asked that the case be heard by a jury in Fairfax Circuit Court.

Wilford Taylor Jr., of the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Hampton, was designated as chief judge.  Also named to the court were judges Pamela S. Baskervill of the Eleventh Circuit (Petersburg) and Everett A. Martin Jr. of the Fourth Circuit (Norfolk).

The Water Authority sued Falls Church over water rights in December 2008.  The City has since counter-sued FCWA, including Fairfax County and its Board of Supervisors, in its filing.

Unless the parties reach a settlement, the case will go to trial in September.  In June the City council rejected an offer to settle the case and instructed the city attorney to make a counter-offer to Fairfax.

The council discussed the matter in closed session last Monday night and will do so again this coming Monday.

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Previous reporting and commentary on the ”Water War” between Falls Church and Fairfax County

Reports

[June 26] Fairfax’s Experts Rip Falls Church

[June 2] UPDATE: City Council Rejects Fairfax Offer

[May 21] Having Lost One Lawsuit, City Files Another

[April 16] Part 1: A Tale of Two Lawsuits

[April 17] Part 2: How City Lost Suit Against Fairfax County

[April 21] Part 3: An Appeal Denied

[April 23] Part 4: The Authority Strikes Back

Commentary

[June 1] OPINION: Town Hall Meeting Needed on Water War

[May 4] OPINION: Settle the Water Litigation Now

[May 4] COMMUNITY COMMENT: Reasons to Resolve Water Dispute