Apr. 4—A Greenville company has amended its response to a Hunt County's lawsuit that claims the company was responsible for damaging Hunt County roads while assisting in the construction of a project for the Commerce Independent School District.

CT Excavating, in an amended answer to the county's suit, raised new claims as to how county officials behaved during the initial negotiations regarding the matter. The defendant also declared the roads that allegedly were damaged by the company were "already dilapidated" before the construction project began.

The county's legal counsel denied the assertions made by the company.

CT Excavating's amended answer and counterclaim were filed with the 354th District Court March 31.

Hunt County had been granted a temporary injunction against CT Excavating Inc. and is seeking monetary relief of up to $1 million.

The injunction ordered CT Excavating and/or any of its subcontractors to refrain from using Hunt County Roads 4510, 4511 or 4512 with any vehicles with a combined gross weight of 10,000 pounces or greater, other than to the agreed removal of multiple CT Excavating equipment which exceeds the weight limit set in the restraining order, and then using County Road 4510 only.

The injunction also orders CT Excavating to refrain from scraping, blading or "any effort to correct any damage already caused" during the incidents detailed in the original filing.

The county's original suit said CT Excavating was awarded a contract to perform excavation and transportation of fill dirt for the construction of a middle school and multi-purpose complex for the Commerce ISD; however, overweight vehicles "caused severe damage to the roadways, drainage ditches, and along the roads."

The roads were cracked and developed ruts, many of which were so severe that large percentages of the road became impassable even for tractor trailers, the county claims.

In its amended answer, CT Excavating noted the first half-mile portion of County Road 4510 is oil dirt with the remaining half-mile gravel, with no major repair or rehabilitation of the road since 2001.

Google street view images of the road from June 2022, six months before CT's operation began, reveal the road had "countless potholes, ruts, mounds, major depressions, areas that are granualized and buckled, long spiderweb cracks, and intermittent shoddy repairs."

According to the answer, Precinct 4 Commissioner Steven Harrison instructed Constable Michael Benson and a DPS trooper on January 23 to inspect the company's trucks.

CT owner Sam Tippit then contacted County Judge Bobby Stovall and arranged a Jan. 27 meeting to discuss the issue, during which Tippit and co-owner Bill Coles offered "to leave the road in better condition when the school contract was complete than it was when CT began operation."

In response, Stovall said, "You can finish up your job, give us $100,000 and you won't hear another peep out of us."

Coles and Tippit refused and left the office, the recent filing said. They learned of the lawsuit on Feb. 3.

"When CT refused Judge Stovall's demand to pay $100,000 in order to continue its work on the school contract, the county used its political and legal might to obtain an ex parte TRO."

"That characterization is completely wrong," said Hunt County Civil Attorney Daniel Ray, who confirmed a dollar amount was raised during a settlement discussion prior to any formal action being filed.

"Which they rejected," Ray said. "The county disagrees with the characterization and will be vigorously defending this in court."