RONDA - Tension filled the Ronda Town Hall Monday during the town's monthly board meeting.

A string of allegations and denials led to unruly conversation over a set of sewer easements and the practices by which they received signature.

The board passed a motion to table the discussion of the re-signing of the easements until the next regular board meeting in November. Current Ronda Mayor Howard Prevette said Tuesday four easements must be re-signed.

Ronda residents Kevin Reece and his wife, Derie, both of whom are running for town office in November, brought their recent complaints against the board into the public record. The Reeces were upset some residents who signed over the easements received payment for the use of their land while others did not. They contend the board and Prevette kept the townspeople in the dark over the signing and payment, also alleging they were told no money had been allocated for payment to property owners. Board members said they found out about the allocation of funds at the same time everyone else did.

Tuesday Prevette said the town's business was not hidden from the public.

"It is wide open for anyone to come into that town hall and look at," Prevette said. "The books are open to anything they want to know. We've not hid anything from anyone. We just did what the lawyer told us to and I think the lawyer knows a lot more than he (Reece) does."

Kevin Reece said Tuesday he asked for a Ronda town budget and was refused by the office, he alleges he was told he would have to get approval from the town attorney's office, which he received.

Ronda town clerk, Claris Howell, has been charged with improper notarization of an easement document, a misdemeanor, following a complaint filed by the Reece's.

At the board meeting Monday, Kevin Reece admitted his personal document had been signed in the presence of Howell, but his cousin, Andrew Wood, for whom Kevin Reece is legal financial attendant, has property which will also be crossed by the line. That easement was not signed by Wood in the presence of a notary, Reece said.

Some of the property owners who signed easements received payment and others did not.

Privette said the decision about payment came under advice from the town attorney.

"Because we were crossing their properties, they were paid, but their homes are on different locations on the line," Prevette said Tuesday. He said there are no homes on the properties in which owners received payments. "The lawyer told us the best way to handle it was to go ahead and pay them for it," Prevette said.

Prevette said those owners were compensated because they would receive no direct benefit from the sewer line being on their property since no service was available for those properties.

"The construction people were right up against the time to where they were going to have to stop," Prevette said. "Mr. (Raymond)Parker (town attorney) said if we could get them to sign for $2,000 it would be cheap. It would cost $1,200 to $1,500 for appraisals of each piece of land, then you got to pay the lawyer his fee. He said if you go to court their going to give them the whole valuation."

Tuesday the Reece's said they wanted compensation for the Wood property because if the line were to pass through the property no other structure could be built where the line was placed.

Later in the meeting Reece and his wife accused Prevette of going to a Ronda couple's home to convince them to sign a sewer easement, an allegation, which Prevette denied. The couple, who did not give their names, could not properly identify anyone present at the meeting who came to their home. They couldn't say what they actually signed when prompted by Reece.

Prevette said the document the couple signed was a financial statement showing low income. Prevette said similar documents had been signed throughout the route of the sewer line in an attempt to strengthen a grant bid.

"What he was referring to was a low-income grant to finish the sewer with," Prevette said Tuesday. "A fellow from the state, and I were going to low-income people and these people agreed to sign the grant, but as far as taking the easements out that flat was a lie."

At the meeting Prevette stood to face the Reece's, and the heated exchange led to board member Mary Jane Combs suggesting the meeting be adjourned.

"We don't need Kevin telling us what to do," Combs said, attempting to regain control of the proceedings.

Board member Doug Combs said he did not feel anyone in the town should ask for money. They should be thankful for having a sewer. Combs was a more forthcoming after the meeting, saying he felt it was strictly an issue of money. "To me the only reason you would ask for money is greed," Combs said.

While addressing the board, questions posed by Derie Reece concerning the signing of the easement checks were not be answered by Prevette or Howell.

"When it comes down to it Prevette and Howell signed the checks," Derie Reece said Tuesday. "They claim not to know what is going on, but the easements say at the bottom, 'Claris Howell Chief Fincancial Officer'. How can they not know what's going on when they signed the checks?"

"If it goes any further than it did last night I am just going to turn it over to a lawyer," Prevette said Tuesday. "I am not going to stay and argue with people over there, I know what they're after."

Kevin Reece said he would be satisfied if the town had all the easements re-signed and if he and Wood received just compensation for Wood's property and the price of a survey of the Reece property.

"The only reason I got the survey was because they wanted to put the sewer on my property line," Kevin Reece said. "All I want for them to do is to pay for the survey. I feel that's protecting the town, so they know they are putting the sewer line on the right piece of property."

Reece is asking for $900 for his survey cost and $5,000 payment for the easement on Wood's property. All other parties who were paid received around $2,000.

"It would satisfy me, but it doesn't satisfy me if im not given the opportunity to be treated fairly," Reece said. "If the town tries to force the documents they have, I will petition the courts and ask them to be set aside. I am willing to go all the way with this thing."

Prevette, who was initially not going to seek reelection, will run for town commissioner as a write in candidate, along with Maria Soots, another recent addition to the race.

"I just figured that we needed someone besides one family," Prevette said. "If the two of them (the Reece's) went in there that would be four members (of one family) on one board. That would be an automatic vote on anything they wanted to do."

Soots said Monday she is running to get a grip on the happenings in the town. "The more I hear people talk, the more I want to know what's going on."

The election is November 6.