The Poquonnock Bridge Fire District Board will not have to honor a disputed 10-year labor contract that would have given firefighters annual pay raises of 3 percent and other benefits, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Judge Charles T. Lee wrote in a decision Dec. 1 that the contract is invalid because negotiators failed to seek approval for the additional money needed to pay for the contract, as state law requires.

"Because no such request for funds was submitted, the taxpayers were deprived of the informed judgment of their legislative body," Lee wrote in a 20-page ruling.

His decision effectively overturns the finding of the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations, which had ordered the fire district to comply with the collective bargaining agreement dating back to July 2012 and pay any back wages and benefits owed.

District board members appealed to the court, saying they feared the contract would essentially bankrupt the district.

Mark Murphy, president of the Poquonnock Bridge Professional Fire Fighters Association, on Wednesday declined comment on the ruling.

Fire District Board President Alan Ackley could not be reached. But Board Member Ron Yuhas said the decision was good news. He had not yet seen it, he said.

"It's very good for the district board, and I guess we're just going to have to keep working forward to come up with a new agreement," Yuhas said. "My hope is to get back to the table shortly, and have everything hammered out."

The fire district board meets next at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11 in the Groton Senior Center.

The 10-year agreement was approved by a vote of 2-1, while firefighters, the union and business owners fought for control of the district board.

Board members Kevin Czapla, a business owner and lieutenant in the Old Mystic Fire Department, and Thomas Wimler, who worked in emergency services in Durham, voted yes.

Former board member Nancy Beckwith, who recently resigned, voted no.

In addition to a lengthy agreement, the contract required additional staffing, increased paid personal leave and a boost in benefits for retirees.

Christopher Clark, a professional firefighter from Waterford, was president of the district board at the time.

Shortly after the contract was approved, the district voted to expand its board from five to nine members, electing four new members and seizing control back from the union.

In September, the new board voted to rescind approval of the agreement.

The union answered by filing a complaint with the labor board, arguing that the contract was valid and should be enforced.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim