A private company, Baldwin County Sewer Services LLC, has been in the news quite a few times in the past year. After the City of Gulf Shores denied their expansion effort on Fort Morgan Road and problems with ADEM inspections, the company is now facing legal problems.

The Alabama Supreme Court has denied Baldwin County Sewer Service, LLC’s (BCSS) petition for a writ of mandamus in a long-running legal battle over a sewer rate increase. The decision, delivered on September 6, 2024, stems from a 2014 lawsuit brought by several homeowners’ associations who alleged that BCSS violated a 1991 agreement between a real-estate developer and the company.

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The homeowners’ associations, which include The Gardens at Glenlakes Property Owners Association, Inc. and others, challenged the sewer rate increase, seeking both a declaratory judgment and specific performance of the 1991 agreement. Over the past decade, the case has been brought before the Supreme Court of Alabama multiple times, primarily over whether the plaintiffs have the right to enforce the original agreement.

In 2016, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling that had granted summary judgment in favor of BCSS, clarifying that the plaintiffs' issue was not standing but whether they were the real parties in interest. Despite this clarification, BCSS continued to challenge the plaintiffs' authority to enforce the agreement, leading to multiple nonfinal rulings and further appellate reviews.

Most recently, in August 2023, the Baldwin Circuit Court denied BCSS's latest motion for summary judgment, ruling again that the homeowners’ associations are real parties in interest. BCSS then petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to compel the circuit court to grant summary judgment in its favor.

However, the Supreme Court denied BCSS's petition, stating that the real-party-in-interest issue does not affect the trial court's subject-matter jurisdiction and is therefore not suitable for mandamus review. The Court emphasized that such disputes should be resolved through a final judgment by the trial court, not through extraordinary appeals. As a result, BCSS will need to continue its legal battle in the lower courts, with the Supreme Court noting the significant delays caused by the repeated challenges.

This latest ruling is a critical moment in a case that has stretched over a decade and remains unresolved, with BCSS continuing to contest the plaintiffs' rights under the 1991 agreement. The litigation now returns to the Baldwin Circuit Court for further proceedings.

This ruling may signal a path forward for the homeowners' associations as they seek to enforce the terms of the decades-old contract, which could ultimately determine future sewer rates in Baldwin County.