A judge ruled yesterday that Jefferson County sewer bondholders cannot have access to certain documents created by two consultants or question them about that work or their communications with county attorneys and commissioners in a commission executive session prior to a vote to raise sewer rates, the Birmingham News reported today. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Bennett, however, left the issue open on whether officials with a consulting firm, CH2M Hill, would have to answer certain questions about their work for the county if called upon to testify at an upcoming bankruptcy court trial. The judge said he would rule on the matter at the trial if that firm was brought in by the county as a rebuttal witness.
