Groton — A former Groton City Council member continued his fight this week for access to financial records from the city related to Thames Valley Communications, the former municipally run cable and internet company that left the city with $27.5 million in debt.

Jay Dempsey of Groton has yet to obtain financial documents he says should be open to the public, including the purchase and sale agreement of TVC to CTP Investors LLC, who paid $550,000 for the company in 2013. His overall quest, he said, is to find out how and why the company started losing an estimated $2.5 million a year without anyone in the public knowing about it.

The company, launched in 2004 as a subsidiary of Groton Utilities, never made money and had continued to gather debt until its sale.

TVC had not released any of the documents requested by Dempsey on the grounds they contain trade secrets and thus are exempt from disclosure. City of Groton Mayor Marian Galbraith said the city is bound by terms of a confidentiality agreement with TVC and has a contractual obligation not to release the documents without TVC's permission.

An FOI Commission hearing officer gave the city and TVC until Thursday to hand over the documents for inspection to determine the merits of the city’s argument.

Dempsey said the city has handed over documents to the hearing officer and some redacted financial statements to him. He said he has seen nothing so far that is not already available from other public sources.

“I want to see where the money went,” Dempsey said Friday of his request. “Honestly, I think the parts that will be enlightening are the parts that are redacted.”

As for the sales contract, Dempsey asked, “What’s the big secret? You sold the company. We know you lost money.”

Dempsey said he and the lawyers from both the city and TVC have until mid-February to file legal briefs and submit more information requested by the hearing officer. He said he does not intend to hire an attorney.

Dempsey said he could not speculate on whether the city and TVC fully complied with the order from the commission to submit all requested documents for an “in camera” inspection.

“I want to make sure there’s no Kentucky Derby trips in there,” Dempsey said. “I think eventually we’ll get what we asked for. I’m just surprised how much effort it took to get to this far.”

Attorney Bryan LeClerc, who represents the City of Groton in the case, was not immediately available for comment. Attorney William Fish, who represents TVC, referred inquiries to TVC spokesman George Laub, who was not immediately available for comment.  

g.smith@theday.com