Horry County drops camera lawsuit against N.C. tech company
Horry County dropped a lawsuit against a Charlotte tech company, which failed to follow through on a contract to install cameras at area boat landings last year, because the firm paid the county $40,000 as part of a settlement, according to court records filed this week.
The case was officially dismissed Monday following WildFire Connections’ final payment to the county, said Horry attorney Arrigo Carotti. Both parties negotiated a settlement in February that allowed the company to pay back money it had received as an advance from the county. The settlement scheduled payments over five installments, with the last one amounting to $9,500 and being due by June 25.
The company does not admit any liability as part of the settlement. WildFire CEO Bob Dunlap could not be reached for comment Thursday.
County officials signed a contract with WildFire in May 2014 for the wireless camera system. The following month, the company was paid to install it.
Plans originally called for placing the cameras at six of the county’s 28 boat landings, including Peachtree Landing, where a missing Socastee woman named Heather Elvis was last seen in December 2013.
WildFire claimed to have the expertise and resources to handle a countywide wireless infrastructure project, but that wasn’t the case, according to the county’s lawsuit.
Horry County Administrator Chris Eldridge told county council’s public safety committee in late September that the camera project was “way behind.” Eldridge began overseeing the progress of the initiative after Paul Whitten resigned as the assistant county administrator over public safety on Sept. 8.
Just before he left, Whitten declared that the project was 30 days from completion. He said all that was needed was an agreement from the city of Conway to use its tower.
The lawsuit states that county officials contacted WildFire’s CEO in November and learned that no portion of the system had been completed. Despite the county’s demands, WildFire refused to pay back the advance it received until the county took the company to court, according to court papers.
A large portion of the funding for the cameras came from state grants. About $57,000 in state money was earmarked for placing the cameras at Chris Anderson Landing, Red Bluff Landing, S.C. 22/U.S. 17 Interchange Landing, Reaves Ferry Landing, Enterprise Landing and, of course, Peachtree.
After the struggles with WildFire, county officials found another vendor to install boat landing cameras. That company, Tyco, already provided surveillance cameras at the county’s main government complex in Conway, the M.L. Brown Public Safety Building and some recreation centers.
Contact CHARLES D. PERRY at 626-0218 or on Twitter @TSN_CharlesPerr.
This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Horry County drops camera lawsuit against N.C. tech company."