The Mt. Carmel City Council’s decision to award a bid for a preliminary engineering report is at the heart of a lawsuit filed against two local engineers.
Last month, the city council accepted the low bid of $12,000 from Keys Hill Engineering for the study into the future water needs of Mt. Carmel. The bid was $3,000 less than the bid from Hampton, Lenzini, and Renwick (HLR), which is the former LAMAC Engineering.
In the lawsuit filed by HLR on June 25th, HLR alleges Keys Hill Engineering was started by their former employees Tracy Swanson and John Acree. According to the suit, Acree was fired by HLR on May 17th of this year while Swanson resigned without notice on June 11th, just days before the city council awarded the bid to Keys Hill.
HLR alleges that Acree is still a shareholder of their company and is contractually prohibited from contacting or soliciting any of their customers for a two-year period. HLR also alleges that Acree solicited Swanson to leave her job and start the business with him.
In its’ seven-count lawsuit, HLR is asking for damages from Acree and Swanson to be determined at trial.
For several years, Acree has been the point person for the city and the now defunct Wabash Valley Water Commission as local communities look to their future water needs. HLR contends Acree used proprietary company information in undercutting their proposal to secure the Mt. Carmel bid.
In a sworn affidavit, Acree said he is unemployed and is not affiliated with Keys Hill in any professional capacity and did not convince Swanson to leave HLR, and had nothing to do with the Mt. Carmel bid.
Last week, an emergency motion filed by HLR for a temporary restraining order against Acree, Swanson, and Keys Hill was granted. The case is being heard in Wabash County Circuit Court with another hearing set for next Tuesday.
Acree, Swanson, and Keys Hill Engineering are being represented by Kelli Storckman, who also serves as Mt. Carmel City Attorney.
