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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970 Patton, CS Discord Ends in AgreementPatton, Ends in Lt. Col. Karl S. Patton and the City of College Station e n d e d their disagreement amicably Friday after three hours of testimony in 85th District Court. Patton filed suit to force the city to furnish him electrical service to a mouse he has built at 1300 Caudill. The city had refused, con- tending Patton has built a substandard house. After conclusion of testimony the two opposing sides met in Judge W. C. Davis's office and reached an agreement. The city, represented by Asst. City Atty. Tom Giesenschlag, agreed to furnish power to Patton Monday morning. Patton, acting as his own attorney, agreed to abide by whatever decision structural engineer James Marsh and architect William Nash reach concerning structural ad- justments to the house. The court recessed until Tuesday morning when the judge will determine if both sides have held to the 1 agreement. Marsh, who heads the Building Construction Depart- ment at Texas A &M University, was employed by the city as a consultant to inspect the .house and served as expert witness. C S Discord Agreement Marsh testified he made four inspections of the house and found quite a few deviations from the Southern Standard Building Code, 4 which the city uses as a guide to construction. After making his inspections, Marsh said he made a detailed report to College Station public works director and building inspector L. P. Dulaney, in- cluding pictures to substantiate his report. In his professional opinion, Marsh said, he was left with grave doubts as to "how the structure would behave under heavy winds." The roof was not adequately fixed to the concrete tilt -up panels of which the house is partially constructed and these panels were not adequately tied together, Marsh testified. If the weight of the roof was removed the panels could "come out like dominoes," Marsh said. To help alleviate the problem, Marsh said, he had recommended using angle irons. After Patton refused to c o m p l y with the recom- mendation, the city refused to hook up his electricity. During Patton's questioning of Marsh, Judge Davis told Patton to just "ask the question. You're confusing me. 'First you ask the question and then you answer it and then you already been answered." While on the witness stand himself, Patton testified that on Sept. 30, 1969, he saw Dulaney and Codie Wells. College Station City Managzr Ran Boswell had earlier identified Well as a retired engineer and member of the planning and zoning commission who sometimes did consulting work "free gratis" for the city. Patton said Dulaney had admitted he was not competent to make the inspection and had asked Wells to come along. Wells spent about 30 minutes and discussed several things about the house, Patton said. Then, Patton recalled, Wells stated his satisfaction with the building if Patton would change the rafters, which Patton said he did. He then wrote a letter to the city, Patton said, asking why the house was not approved. He said the letter it was ignored. W. Dale Thomas, a carpenter and subcontractor who worked for Patton, testified earlier to hearing Wells say if Patton would change the rafters, he would let everything else go. Troy Thomas, a carpenter, told the court he heard "this guy (Wells) with Dulaney tell Patton that if he would fix the See CS SUIT, Page 4A THE DAILY E" — SECTION A Page 4 Bryan -College Station, Texes Sunday, April 26, 1970 (I Imo. (Continued from page 1) rafters that was all that had to be done. At that point Giesenschlag attempted to determine how far along in the construction the house was and whether or not the roof was completed. He also objected several times to Patton's asking leading questions and putting words into his witnesses' mouths. Judge Davis asked Patton to just ask the question and then told Giesenschlag he would just have to overlook some things and remember Patton wasn't an expert as Giesenschlag is. Giesenschlag asked Pa',+on if he recalled leaving Giesen- schlag's office "crying and saying, `I'll get ,you'." He ats asked Patton if he recalled threatening Marsh. Patton denied that either occurred. As evidence, Patton entered a series of letters between him and Giesenschlag in an attempt to prove that the city was beirg uncooperative. In them he asks Giesenschlag if he will attend an inspection and Giesenschlag said that he was no structures expert.