TDS spent $80 million to acquire Continuum, but only about $11.4 million was available from the proceeds to reimburse Davidson and Mooresville.

Nov. 16. By Dave Vieser. By the end of the month, the Town of Cornelius bank account may be richer by some $384,000 as a result of a legal settlement agreement with Davidson and Mooresville.

The payment stems from the ill-fated municipal purchase of the former Mi-Connection cable system by the two towns north of Cornelius.

The agreement was approved by all three towns Monday evening, and needs only one more approval—expected at the County Board of Commissioners meeting tonight.

JIM DUKE

66-33 split

“The split will likely be two thirds-one third,” said Cornelius commissioner Jim Duke. “This is based upon the original contract that would have provided Cornelius with $ 1 million and Mecklenburg with $500K,” Duke said. “During conversations I heard no other distribution split contemplated.”

Davidson and Mooresville bought the former Adelphia Cable system through a municipal consortium.

Complex deal

Cornelius chose not to participate in the deal, although the company continued to serve customers in the town. The system proceeded to lose more money, and plenty of it. Nearly $50 million in subsidies were paid by taxpayers in Mooresville and Davidson for over a decade.

The MI Connection system—renamed Continuum—went back to the private sector when it was purchased by TDS Telecom on Dec. 31 of 2019.

With the sale, Cornelius asked for $1 million, claiming it was contractually owed. Davidson and Mooresville objected and filed a lawsuit in Iredell County Superior Court in February of 2020. After more than a year of negotiations the parties reached an out-of-court settlement in the past month.