Lafayette Gatling’s debt to the city is approaching the $500,000 mark as payments on the Roanoke Rapids Theatre continue to go unpaid and a confrontation in court looms.
In his report to council tonight, City Manager Paul Sabiston noted Gatling’s debt to the city is more than $430,000, reflecting partial or no payments since March.
“Where we are is I’m as frustrated as everybody else is,” Mayor Emery Doughtie said following the meeting. “I’m hoping (City Attorney Gilbert Chichester) will be able to do something to get control of the theater.”
Chichester told rrspin.com he believes a hearing on an injunction contained in the city’s lawsuit against Gatling will be heard the week of August 23. That is when an extension filed by Gatling’s attorneys expires.
“That’s going to be the judge’s call,” Chichester said when asked if he thought the city would win the injunction, which would temporarily bring the theater back under the city’s control as litigation continues. “The case has merit, we do feel that. Ultimately the decision rests with the judge.”
The seven page civil lawsuit contains four evidence exhibits which include the notice ending Gatling’s contract with the city, a letter demanding the property and past due rent back, the lease agreement with the city and the contract for Gatling and L&M Hospitality to buy the 8.822 acres of land on which the venue is located.
The city contends in the lawsuit it entered valid contracts with Gatling through the lease and agreement to buy the land. The city says it has complied with the terms of the documents and that Gatling has committed material breaches of the documents while the city has given notice they have not been corrected.