By Miles Layton

COLUMBIA — A legal battle over a Confederate monument standing in front of the Tyrrell County Courthouse has come to an end, with the county and a group of local residents reaching a settlement in federal court, the Board of Commissioners announced Tuesday.

Flashback — in a joint filing dated June 26, attorneys for both sides notified the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that the parties had “reached a resolution” in the case. The filing said the parties are finalizing a settlement agreement and that a stipulation of dismissal will follow once all documents are fully executed.

The lawsuit was brought in May 2024 by Joyce Fitch, Mark Mixon, Sherryreed Robinson, and the Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, who argued that a phrase engraved on the monument’s stone pedestal — “in appreciation of our faithful slaves” — violated their constitutional rights, citing both equal protection and property rights claims. The monument, a Confederate soldier statue, stands atop a pedestal in front of the courthouse whose panels honor county residents who served the Confederacy. The disputed inscription dates to 1902.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Commission unanimously approved the settlement agreement. 

County Manager David Clegg explained what the vote meant for the case. See more below.

“That action will conclude the litigation regarding the object of memorial and will immediately set forth a dismissal,” he said.

Subscribe — it’s free!

After the meeting, Clegg elaborated on the terms of the settlement, telling the Albemarle Observer that no damages were involved —  no money changed hands between the two sides. 

“This was never a damages lawsuit. This lawsuit was always a declaratory judgment lawsuit,” he said. “And there aren’t damages in a declaratory judgment or an injunction. So, no — everybody bears their own (legal) costs.”

Asked what the county itself paid to defend the lawsuit, Clegg put the figure at $25,000.

As for the monument, Clegg said the inscription will be covered by a steel plate rather than removed. 

“The offending language on the object is going to be covered up, but only in a way that it can be uncovered for academic investigation and research,” he said, adding that the academic institution will bear the cost of making it accessible to researchers in the future. 

“If researchers from legitimate institutions perhaps want to see it, if it hasn’t been photographed enough … we can unhook it and show it to you.”

Let’s say that again — Clegg said all costs to temporarily remove that steel plate must be borne by the academic institution

“The county would monitor the removal of the plate to make sure it’s done properly. That is done at the county’s discretion — nobody can show up and say they have a right to remove that plate, because they don’t,” he said.

And Clegg’s right – everyone, including this country editor, has photographed that monument after stopping for a cold drink in Columbia. See my pictures above.

ABC board funding request tabled

Commissioners also declined, for now, to release retained construction funds to the county’s ABC Board.

Clegg explained that a 2017 resolution had allowed the ABC Board to retain funds for a construction project, with the arrangement later extended to June 30, 2026 — a deadline that has now passed.

Commissioner Darryl Liverman moved to table the request for the ABC board resolution until June 30th, 2027,” Liverman said.

Commissioner Robert Thompson initially pressed for clarity on the move, asking, “Why are we letting them keep the money?” 

Liverman clarified that his motion did the opposite. “That’s what we’re doing. We’re going to get the money if they need it,” he said. The motion to table the request passed.

Liverman said afterward he supports the local ABC Board but is wary of larger uncertainty at the state level. “I think our local ABC boards are doing a good job with it,” he said. “But my concern is the uncertainty of what our North Carolina legislature is going to do in regard to privatization of it. I hate to think we end up building a building and then next year or two years down the road they take it over, and we’re left holding the payment on a building.”

Everett echoed that concern, pointing to the ABC Board’s low facility usage. “I concur with Mr. Liverman’s endorsement of our local board.” 

Thompson interjected, “They’ve been keeping the money for 11 years, got $300,000. They want to build a bigger liquor store,” decrying a lack of common sense.

On a related note, the Albemarle Observer has reached out to the state Auditor’s Office for a statement about whether there is any investigation into the ABC Board based on past discussions among commissioners during meetings over the past several months. The Auditor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment, which is unusual, as it did not confirm or deny whether an investigation is underway.   

Commissioners reprioritize US 64 widening

Later in the meeting, commissioners took up the county’s wish list of state transportation projects, with an eye toward eventually widening US 64 to four lanes.

Clegg told the board that with the Alligator River Bridge replacement now moving forward, the county’s list of pending statewide mobility projects has shrunk to two: the two-lane section of US 64 east of Columbia, and a broader modernization of US 64 that would include 12-foot lanes and possibly shoulders. “The issue then becomes how do you want to rate those,” Clegg said, recommending the four-lane project be ranked above the regional impact project.

Commission approved the motion, prioritizing the four-laning of US 64 at the top of its list.

During the discussion, Everett asked whether long-discussed plans for a bike path and turn lanes near Alligator on Old 64 were still alive, recalling a meeting years earlier in which a district engineer described them. Davis confirmed the turn-lane components had been folded into the broader project. “It would definitely help traffic,” Davis said of the turn lanes. “It would be a lot safer if they did.”

Speaking with the Albemarle Observer after the meeting, Clegg cautioned that the four-lane project still depends on the state. “It won’t go anywhere unless we reprioritize our requests for the state transportation improvement plan, because both of those two remaining projects have statewide mobility significance,” he said. “What we have decided consistently is that what we want is a four-laning from Columbia to the Alligator River.”

Clegg said the reprioritization will next go to the rural transportation planning organization before heading to the state Department of Transportation’s Region One office. He predicted growing traffic once the new Alligator River Bridge opens will make the case for the wider highway more urgent. “The roll-down impact is going to be so significant because it’s going to increase traffic dramatically,” he said. “All of a sudden, turn lanes at old 64, east of Columbia, are going to become much more important, because you don’t want to back up traffic.”

Public comment

During the public comment period, Olian Spencer Jr. addressed the board as president of the Men’s Fellowship Group of Christ, which serves seven counties, including Tyrrell. He said the group is planning an outreach event in Tyrrell County in late September or early October and asked to use Tyrrell Hall at no cost, as other counties have provided venues for the nonprofit’s events. “We’re not doing what God has asked us to do — supposed to be out ministering people,” Spencer said. “We just ask y’all to help us any kind of way you can.”

Chairman Davis responded directly to the request before closing public comment. “I’ll personally make the motion to advise you to let you use that facility for free whenever that time comes about,” Davis said.

Leroy Spivey, a former county commissioner, also spoke, thanking the county for last month’s veterans’ dinner.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the county for the effort, time, and expense of providing the veterans’ dinner last month,” Spivey said. “It was very well attended, and we hope that this will become an annual event to honor our veterans in our county.”

The Board of Commissioners voted to recess the meeting until July 27 at 10 a.m. — that’s the meeting where they’ll meet with the Board of Education to mediate matters arising from where the new school may be placed.