The Savannah City Council will meet to discuss the city’s options today after losing a lawsuit last week that could cost the city $12 million.
Mayor Edna Jackson and the aldermen are expected to discuss the case behind closed doors during the 3 p.m. work session at City Hall, said spokesman Bret Bell.
Bell said he was not sure whether a public vote would be taken.
On Monday, Jackson said the city was not sure whether it would appeal after a Chatham County Superior Court jury awarded $12 million to Shanta Greene on Aug. 21 after day-long deliberations in the nine-day trial.
They first needed to seek legal counsel from the city attorneys, she said.
Greene, 31, had filed suit against the city after being seriously injured on July 2, 2010, when a live oak tree limb fell and impaled her in the passenger seat of a pickup truck on Bee Road at 42nd Street. She lost her right leg and pelvis along with an assortment of related physical injuries and a brain injury.
In addition to $12 million for Greene, the jury also awarded $20,000 to her cousin, Louis Anderson, who was driving the pickup, and $10,000 to his son, Xavier Anderson, 9. Both suffered lesser injuries.
Bell said the city does not have liability insurance because it has historically been protected by government immunity in such cases. If the city has to pay the award, it will make it even more difficult for city officials already contending with reduced tax revenue, he said.
During the case, Greene’s attorney had claimed the city was negligent in caring for the tree, while the city claimed an internal defect caused the limb to fall and the city had no knowledge of that defect.
The council also plans to discuss the special purpose local option sales tax during the work session. A final list of projects is due to Chatham County by Sept. 4, ahead of a planned referendum to extend the 1-percent tax in November.