An attorney for Buc-ee’s filed a brief recently in Clark County Common Pleas Court seeking a timely resolution to the matter.
“Crews have been ready and willing to work to meet an anticipated construction deadline of late 2025. However, construction is now delayed due to the ongoing dispute,” the filing reads. “... (I)f the court delays a decision granting one of the cross-motions, or otherwise denies both requests for summary judgement, Buc-ee’s and the Huber Heights community will face delays with opening this location.”
Preliminary ground work on the site has been ongoing for weeks, and piping, trucks and building materials remain on the site.
The Clark County commissioners first filed a court complaint against the city in July 2023, claiming Huber Heights’ 20-year wastewater treatment services contract with the city of Fairborn, which the city entered into in 2022 as part of its east sewer main extension project, may violate a similar set of contracts between Clark County and Huber Heights.
The county is requesting the court rule it has sole right and authority to operate water and sewer in the service areas outlined in the agreement, which includes the Buc-ee’s project site.
The city has asserted it is not contractually obligated to connect to Clark County services and requests a court ruling affirming the same.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
In its brief, an attorney for Buc-ee’s posits the company has no stake in the issue other than its requirement to be serviced by one of the municipalities.
“Buc-ee’s favors neither Huber Heights nor Clark County in the above-mentioned dispute. Instead, Buc-ee’s primary interest is to ensure the timely resolution of the dispute so that it can regain access to water and sewer services,” the filing reads. “Without these services, Buc-ee’s cannot complete construction or open business at the Huber Heights location.”
Huber Heights Mayor Jeff Gore stressed that the ongoing litigation between the city and Clark County will not be a detriment to the store’s opening.
“As we’ve stated all along, the sewer and water will be there when they need it regardless of who is providing it,” Gore said via email Thursday.
In an email to this newspaper Wednesday, a Buc-ee’s representative reiterated the brief’s assertion that the project is delayed and added that “all work has stopped.”
“The Huber Heights project has been delayed as a result of the dispute between the city and the county,” the email affirmed. “Buc-ee’s is not a participant in the litigation and remains hopeful for a timely resolution.”
Back in August, during a groundbreaking ceremony kicking off construction of the 74,000-square-foot store, Buc-ee’s owner Arch “Beaver” Aplin III said he expected to return to Huber Heights for a grand opening by Christmas 2025.
The company representative did not specify in his Wednesday statement to what extent, if any, the pause in construction may have on the store’s estimated completion date at this point.
Assistant City Manager Aaron Sorrell, who also serves as the city planner for Huber Heights, said via email this week that the ongoing lawsuit is not solely to blame for the pause in construction.
Things have slowed, he said, as work related to the provision of power for the future store is completed on and near the site.
“... AES (is) scheduling a relocation of overhead power lines that bisect the building pad,” Sorrell said. “Those lines need to be moved, and once that’s done we can energize the lift station we constructed.”
Sorrell also noted the city has provided Buc-ee’s with water for use during the construction process up to this point.
“I think the main point of (the Buc-ee’s) filing is to express a sense of urgency to resolve this matter,” Sorrell wrote.
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