The city of Helena plans to file a counterclaim against Treasure State Internet & Telegraph, which is seeking $1.5 million in damages as a result of what it claims as negligence on the part of city government.
In a complaint initially filed in Montana First Judicial District Court Aug. 27 and amended Mar. 19 and again April 5, the public utility company alleges that city staff unlawfully interfered with its operations within city rights of way from the summer of 2015 to April 2020.
The complaint lays out a timeline of events across the five-year span that implicate the city engineering staff and city manager's office of wrongdoing.