ROANOKE RAPIDS - This city on the Virginia border is finally finished with Randy Parton.

The cost: $750,000.

In a packed conference room Friday evening, the Roanoke Rapids City Council approved a settlement with the entertainer that ended weeks of uncertainty about their relationship and removed the threat of a lawsuit.

"Each side buys its peace and avoids litigation that, with appeals, could have stretched into Hillary's, Obama's or McCain's second term," said Johnny Loper, a Raleigh lawyer who represented the city.

The dispute started in December, when Roanoke Rapids officials removed Parton, brother of country music's Dolly Parton, from a theater they built and named for him. They said that Parton had fallen short of his duties, alleged he was intoxicated before a show and breached a contract.

Parton disagreed and expected the city to pay him. The city was on the hook for at least $1.25 million -- $250,000 for five years.

Under terms of the deal approved Friday, the city will pay Parton a lump sum of $546,986. It also will give him control of three bank accounts with $203,013 generated while he ran the theater.

Parton has agreed to set aside $70,000 from those funds for up to 90 days to pay any local vendors to whom he still owes money.

"I think it's an appropriate resolution to the dispute," said Nick Ellis, a Rocky Mount lawyer who represented Parton.

Friday's action brought resolution to a key issue, but it closed only one chapter in a saga that does not appear to be near an end. Officials at the City Council meeting confirmed that federal investigators are looking into theater project, though it's unclear what, exactly, interests them.

The State Auditor's Office earlier said it, too, is investigating.

Roanoke Rapids, about 90 miles northeast of Raleigh, embarked on the theater project to jump-start an ailing economy.

The city partnered with Parton, who was initially promised $750,000 a year, and borrowed $21.5 million to build the venue as an anchor for a larger entertainment district.

Leaders had visions of a tourist mecca to rival Branson, Mo. But the project struggled from the start. The Randy Parton Theatre turned in lackluster ticket sales after it opened in July. And the broader district has been slow to draw tenants.

Roanoke Rapids tried to put the theater on better footing in November, replacing Parton as manager, cutting his salary and limiting his performances. After he was kicked out for good in December, the new management company, UGL Unicco, renamed the venue The Roanoke Rapids Theatre and booked other acts.

City leaders, though, eventually found fault with Unicco. Last month, they terminated an agreement with the Boston-area company. Mayor Drewery Beale said that move came after city leaders learned that a manager Unicco hired was promised a $140,000 annual salary and given a $40,000 signing bonus recorded under "janitorial supplies."

Now they're working on a new plan to get the theater on track.

All along, the city intended "to provide jobs for the people we serve. That will come one day," Beale said.

In fact, the theater had a sold-out performance Friday night by country singer Lorrie Morgan.

As for the deal with Parton: "We're not happy," Beale said, "but we feel it was in the best interest of the city to go ahead and do this agreement."

Initially, city leaders didn't want to pay Parton anything. Parton, on the other hand, wanted $1.4 million -- the $1.25 million he was owed plus compensation for concession sales he missed out on.

In addition to the final monetary terms, the city agreed to release Parton from any future claims. Parton agreed to give up a five-year option he had to buy the theater. Of the lump sum that the city will pay Parton, at least $134,000 will come from theater revenues, said Phyllis Lee, Roanoke Rapids' city manager. City officials hope the rest also will come from the theater.

One council member, Jon Baker, voted against the agreement. In a statement, he said he thought it "unwise to settle while criminal investigations of the theatre project are ongoing and the results unknown."

Ellis, Parton's attorney, declined to comment.

Jim Garrett, who runs a Web site where Roanoke Rapids residents have sounded off on the theater, said city leaders had little choice but to settle.

"I personally think their back was against the wall," Garrett said. "I don't like it.

"Randy Parton truly hasn't had any loss here."