Watertown Trust writes off $40,000 loan to town truck company

Sep. 25—WATERTOWN — The Watertown Trust plans to take legal action against a tow trucking business that allegedly reneged on a $40,000 loan.

Snide's Towing, Plowing and Landscaping still owes $39,942 on its $40,000 loan from the Watertown Local Development Corp., also known as the Watertown Trust.

Donald W. Rutherford, the Watertown Trust's CEO, said he sent owner Sara Snide emails and left her voicemails about her unpaid loan, but she never paid a dime.

It's now more than 120 days late.

Finally, he tracked her down to Augusta, Georgia, where she has since gone into business as Snide's Towing and Auto Works.

At one point, she told him that she sent checks in the mail to pay back the loan, he said. They never arrived to the trust's Public Square office.

"So I'm done," Mr. Rutherford said.

On Thursday, the Watertown Trust's board agreed to write off the loan and seek legal action, either filing a lawsuit or a judgement against her.

"Whether we get anything of it, I don't know," Mr. Rutherford said.

At first, she and her husband, Jonathan, both former Fort Drum soldiers, ran the towing business out of their Clayton home before opening an office in the commerce building on Public Square, so they could be closer to customers in the city.

They also ran a landscaping business and a candy shop.

After leaving the Army, they decided they liked the north country so much that they wanted to stay in the area, she told The Watertown Daily Times in July 2021.

She boasted how she was the north country's only female tow truck operator.

They planned to use the loan to buy a second tow truck and obtain the region's AAA towing franchise.