Town of Awendaw suing Elliot Summey over ‘dirty’ money

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCBD) – The Town of Awendaw has filed a lawsuit against Charleston International Airport CEO Elliott Summey and Jackson Development Group alleging the two mined sand and dirt from a site in Awendaw and did not sufficiently reimburse the town.

According to the lawsuit, the town and the Defendants entered into a “Public Park Development Agreement as of September 11, 2014 … pursuant to which Jackson, as “Developer,” agreed to provide certain services to the town, including but not limited to excavating dirt from the site and paying the town royalties from the sale of such dirt.”

The parties agreed to a $500,000 threshold for reimbursable costs, after which the Defendants “were required to pay the town a royalty fee equal to at least $0.50 for every cubic yard of dirt subsequently sold.” The agreement stated that the royalty fee would be adjusted on a yearly basis “to ensure the royalty fees remain equal to 20% of the future market value of dirt.”

As of 2019, the town claimed that it had not been paid any royalty fees.

Likewise, the lawsuit accuses the Defendants of violating the terms of a mining permit granted by the Department of Environmental Control (DHEC) by bringing in material that “contained large amounts of concrete, asphalt, PVC pipe, rebar, glass, items of clothing, and other trash.”

In 2020, the parties met and agreed that the project should be completed by July 31, 2020. The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants failed to adhere to the agreed upon timeline and were noncompliant with the town’s multiple requests for records relating to the project.

The lawsuit does not specify the amount which the town is seeking, but does demand a jury trial.