Litigation between Douglass Township and a former supervisor has ended. On Monday, the township's board of supervisors voted unanimously to settle multiple lawsuits with Reinhold "Fred" Theil.

                "The issue has run its course," said Anthony Sherr, the Blue Bell attorney hired to represent the township. Sherr spoke about the situation at the meeting. "Everyone wanted to put it behind them."

                Sherr said Theil will receive $18,000 from the township's insurance company for his legal fees.  According to Hiryak, the ruling cost township taxpayers $2,500, the cost of the insurance deductible.

                However, following his presentation, Sherr confirmed that township officials were not able to recoup any costs from the incident that turned into a four-year ordeal.

                In June 2014, municipal officials sued Theil in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas for nearly $37,000.

                Theil filed a countersuit against the township. On Monday, Sherr said that the countersuit was ruled to "have no merit."

                According to Sherr, the final decision does not prevent Theil from mounting another bid for supervisor.               

                "That would violate his civil rights," supervisors Chairman Anthony Kolinski said during the meeting. 

                The original civil lawsuit alleged that Theil acted "without legal authority" to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dump 250,000 yards of debris from Hurricane Sandy at Mountain Mulch, located at 244 Sassmansville Road in Sassmansville.

                According to the suit, Theil received a phone call from a person representing the corps in December 2012 requesting to move the debris to Mountain Mulch.  It alleges that Theil granted the request without contacting "any other supervisors, zoning board members or Douglass Township officials in general."

                Theil took the call on a Saturday, according to May 6, 2013 meeting minutes posted on the township's website.  "You don't say no to the Army Corp of Engineers," Theil said, according to the minutes.

                In the suit, municipal officials attempted to recover the $36,943.82 it spent in legal and engineering fees required by the delivery of the debris, according to paperwork provided to reporters following June 2, 2014 board of supervisors meeting.  It claims that Theil acted outside the scope of his authority as chairman of the board of supervisors and did not officially represent the township.

                The delivery greatly expanded the size and functions of the property, according to the documents. The suit claimed that due to the complaints of numerous neighbors, activities at the property forced the township "to litigate and contest numerous matters," including the attempt of property neighbors seeking to become part of the suit.

                Theil's actions could be one of the factors in his decisions to resign from the board, according to Township Manager Pete Hiryak.  The manager declined to comment further on that specific issue after the meeting.

                According to Hiryak, the two sides had been going "back and forth" for the last few months. He said municipal officials initially received a proposed settlement agreement two weeks ago.

                The settlement all but clears any litigation before the township, according to Solicitor Bob Brant. He said a lawsuit involving Quigley Bus Services, Inc. related to a land development proposal, is winding its way through the legislative process.

                "I don't want to say too much about the (Theil) settlement," Kolinski said after the meeting. "There were a lot of issues going on when we filed this. But I am happy to get this off our plate. Getting rid of litigation has been a priority of this board since I took over as chairman."