In an attempt to thwart a lawsuit, city officials are refusing to accept any more donations from a former resident, who has continued to donate $10,000 a year to city parks, all the while opposing Wal-Mart's plans to build in this Davis County community.

Last week, Centerville Mayor Michael Deamer returned a $250 check to the Putnam Family Foundation of New Hampshire from David Putnam Jr., saying the city no longer would accept the donations "so long as Mr. Putnam is threatening to sue the city, having his law firm send us ultimatums, filing frivolous lawsuits and costing the taxpayers substantial amounts" of money.

Putnam, who now lives in Pleasant View in neighboring Weber County, filed a lawsuit in March, labeling the city's decision to welcome the big-box retailer "arbitrary and capricious." He plans to follow through with that suit, filed in 2nd District Court, now that the city has given Wal-Mart final approval on its plans for a 207,000-square-foot super center.

"We feel they ignored evidence that clearly would have shown that a store that size would impact the residents here in a negative way," Putnam says. "We feel this will be an important test case for other communities who are being put upon by Wal-Mart."

Centerville officials wonder just who the "we" is that Putnam keeps referencing.

"As far as we can tell, he's alone on this one," City Manager Steve Thacker says. "He's not even a resident of Centerville, so how can he speak for the residents of Centerville?"

Whereas hundreds of residents turned out at previous public hearings to protest the big-box retailer, Putnam was the lone opponent at last week's City Council meeting in which officials signed off on a lengthy development agreement.

That deal documents the nearly two-year-long process the city followed in approving Wal-Mart's request to build - even down to such details as how many trees the company will plant and what will be done with the nearly $200,000 it is giving the city for future road upgrades.

Putnam is insulted that city officials felt the need to station a police officer near where he was seated at the meeting.

"They would have had me arrested if I made a move," he says. "There are other people who oppose this. They are just scared to death that they will be sued by Wal-Mart. Since I'm not a resident, I'm really the only one who can do this."

Putnam lived in Centerville from 1980 to the late 1990s, when he bought a small farm and relocated near Ogden.

"Centerville is where we raised our family," he says. "I have a deep affection for that community. I love Centerville."

Upon leaving the city, Putnam, the eldest of six children, arranged for his family's philanthropic organization to donate $10,000 a year for 10 years to Centerville. The eventual sum of $100,000 was to be used for parks and recreation.

Centerville officials say they are grateful for the money but are reluctant to accept any more out of fear of encouraging Putnam's plans to sue the city.

"His giving us this money contributes to his notion that he has a standing in our community," Thacker says. "We have, in fact, received $50,000 from the Putnam family for the past five years."

The city spent that money on parks.

"But we've probably spent at least that much in attorney fees defending his lawsuits," Thacker says, "and that's not including staff time dealing with all of his requests, so we are at a net loss."

lorib@sltrib.com