Demand letters cost Montgomery County $50K in settlements

After sending letters demanding nearly $13 million in reimbursement for costs involving the construction of two county facilities, Montgomery County instead will pay a total of $50,000 to two former county officials who received letters in order to avoid greater costs of potential lawsuits against other county officials.

In a 4-1 vote Monday, Montgomery County commissioners agreed to pay $40,000 to former Precinct 3 Commissioners Ed Chance and $10,000 to former employee/consultant Linda Breazeale. Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack was the lone nay vote.

The letters, sent Dec. 6 by County Attorney J D Lambright, allege Chance, Breazeale and Jim Galloway, with Conroe-based developer Alliance Development LLC, all benefited from the overcharges related to the construction of the Joe Corley Detention Center and the Montgomery County Mental Health Treatment Facility. They further state that Chance and Breazeale, along with Alliance's "schemes, fraud and misrepresentations," knowingly caused the financial damages.

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