BALD HEAD ISLAND — The Bald Head Island Village council has decided against holding a town hall on the village’s ongoing legal disputes over the ferry system after the mayor agreed it was a good idea earlier this month.
READ MORE: Around 300 BHI villagers sign petition against $2.88 million in ferry litigation
More than 300 citizens — full and part-time residents, employees – shared a petition with the council at their April 19 meeting. It called for council to settle its cases over control over the ferry system, which is in process of being sold to private company SharpVue Capital.
The village has intervened in several cases over the transfer and successfully requested the North Carolina Utilities Commission regulate the entire system. As of April 19, it had spent $2.88 million on legal expenses, and that same day, transferred an additional $500,000 from its contingency fund for the purpose.
At the meeting, Mayor Peter Quinn agreed a town hall may be appropriate to answer villagers’ lingering questions.
On Monday, a release from the village states council “has determined that a Town Hall would not be an appropriate format to discuss pending litigation.”
“The nature of litigation is such that certain information should not and cannot be shared,” it reads.
The village did state it would make available substantive filings, such as legal briefs, on the matters, though some are subject to confidentiality orders and may not be disclosed.
It then directed any questions to the village’s public information officer, with the goal of responding to requests of those who spoke at the April 19 meeting before the next council meeting on May 17.
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