A former member of the Alamance-Burlington school board has become embroiled in a lawsuit over his alleged failure to make payments on several radio stations he purchased in southwestern Virginia.
Charles Douglas “Chuck” Marsh currently faces this this litigation in Wythe County, Virginia, where he struck a six-figure deal more than a year ago to acquire a group of radio outlets from a small chain dubbed Three Rivers Media.
On August 15, the owners of Three Rivers Media filed a legal complaint against Marsh and his corporate vehicle – Blue Ridge Media Partners – for reportedly failing to live up to their end of a purchase agreement that took effect in April of 2024.
According to the plaintiff’s complaint, the purchase agreement had obligated Marsh to pay a total of $435,000 plus interest through 72 monthly installments for properties that Three Rivers had owned in the Virginia towns of Wytheville and Rural Retreat. The complaint adds that the agreement had stipulated Marsh would be deemed to be in default of the deal if he was more than 20 days late on any of the monthly payments.
“Currently, [Blue Ridge Media] is more than twenty (20) days late on four of the monthly payments totaling $30,360 exclusive of interest, fees, and penalties,” the plaintiffs continue in their complaint. “[The defendant]’s failure to timely make the monthly installment payments is an event of default as defined under the note and is a material breach of the note.”
The complaint goes on to assert that Marsh owes Three Rivers “no less than $404,464 plus interest and the cost of collection,” and it urges the state circuit court to award the plaintiffs damages in that amount.
This lawsuit comes in the midst of another payment dispute that’s currently making its way through superior court in Alamance County, where Marsh owns Maverick Radio and Hope Radio through another corporate vehicle called Alamance Media Partners. Tina Smith, Marsh’s former marketing manager, had lodged this earlier legal complaint against her ex-boss in April in order to recover thousands of dollars she is allegedly owed for her services.
Both of these legal claims have emerged in the wake of Marsh’s abrupt resignation from the Alamance-Burlington school board on February 24 of this year. Marsh, who originally joined the school board in 2022, still had 21 months left in his term when he gave up his seat following a string of purportedly health-related absences from school board meetings.
