By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorA wrongful death lawsuit has been settled in connection with a 2010 fatal crash on Augusta Bottom Road.Warren County will pay $25,000 and Washington $10,000 as part of the settlement approved Aug. 31 by 12th Circuit Presiding Judge Wes Dalton.The amounts paid by both government entities were listed in an affidavit that is part of the case file. Dalton ordered the settlement terms to be sealed.In June 2013, a confidential settlement was approved between the town of Augusta and David Neier and Dawn Tucker, the parents of Ella Neier, 16, Washington.Neier died Oct. 22, 2010, when the car she was driving skidded off a section of Augusta Bottom Road, referred to as the Augusta Parkway, in Warren County, and crashed into a lake created by floodwaters along the road.Neier’s parents alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain and improve the roadway, which led to the fatal crash.Approval of the lawsuit and a related settlement agreement between multiple government entities and other parties means the controversy over the levee road is essentially over. Warren County will be assuming ownership of the Parkway, while all governments are providing funds to cover repairs and safety improvements.Augusta Bottom Road has been a hot topic for decades and the interest was renewed following the fatal crash. It is located in southeastern Warren County and is primarily used by motorists going to and from St. Charles County and Washington.Warren County Presiding Commissioner Roger Mauzy, who was coroner at the time of Neier’s death and responded to the accident, is relieved to see a conclusion to the case.“This thing has been lingering for years,” he said. “I am glad it’s over, but I won’t consider it done until cars start passing over a very safe roadway.”Warren County Southern District Commissioner Hubie Kluesner agreed that the lawsuit needed to be settled, but raised concerns about establishing a precedence leading to future litigation.The county’s portion of the settlement will be paid by its insurance company, commissioners said. it would have cost at least $25,000 for the county’s lawyer to prepare for a trial if the lawsuit continued to be contested.Neier’s parents filed the wrongful death lawsuit November 2012 against several parties. Others named as defendants but later dismissed from the suit were Franklin County, Three Creeks Village, Kessler Farms, Inc., the Beatrice R. Kessler Trust and John Doe landowners 1-6.The Augusta Parkway section is in Warren County, but county officials had refused to maintain that section since it was rebuilt after the 1993 Missouri River flood with a grant obtained by Augusta. Washington was named in the suit since it had graded Augusta Parkway at the request of the Augusta Town Board.Settlement