Lawsuits against city are dismissed (10/06/06)

Two lawsuits filed against the city of Portland have been dismissed.

A lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent the development of an ethanol plant southwest of Portland was dismissed on Sept. 29, and another suit filed by several city employees seeking to have reprimands removed from their personnel files was dismissed this week. A settlement in that case was detailed in The Commercial Review last week in which reprimands against wastewater treatment plant employees will be removed from their personnel files.

In both suits, the plaintiffs and defendants will pay their own legal fees.

The suit attempting to slow or stop construction of the ethanol plant was filed by several residents who live within a half-mile radius of the site of the Premier Ethanol LLC plant, which is under construction. The suit alleged that company officials did not furnish complete plans to the Portland Planning Commission and did not properly follow the procedures for filing for a re-zoning.

As a result of the suit, Premier officials re-filed for the re-zoning, which was approved by the Portland Planning Commission a second time in July.

Kent Younts, a plaintiff in the case along with wife Joyce and five others, said this morning he has not been notified that the suit was dismissed. Younts, who lives on county road 200 South at county road 200 West near the plant, said he still wishes the ethanol plant wasn't being built.

"It's over. They're going to (build the plant)," he said. "Nobody cares about anything unless it directly affects them."

Younts said he wasn't surprised that the suit was dismissed or that the plant is being built. "Once you get your government officials involved you're not stopping nothin'."

Norman Overton, another plaintiff, declined to comment on the outcome of the suit this morning.

An attorney for several of the defendants in the case said this morning the suit was dismissed from Jay Circuit Court because the second approval of the re-zoning nullified the suit. "In legal terms this makes the lawsuit moot," said Scott Shockley, a Muncie attorney who represented the city of Portland, the planning commission and the Portland City Council.

"As a result of the (second re-zoning) the plaintiffs decided they had no case anymore," he said. Both the plaintiffs and the defendants agreed that the suit should be dismissed, Shockley said.

Hartford City attorney James Forcum, who is representing the plaintiffs, is out of the country and could not be reached for comment this morning. The plaintiffs are Chad M. and Rebecca LeMaster, Philip and Nan E. Rowles, Kent E. and Joyce A. Younts and Overton.

The other lawsuit filed against the city was dismissed Tuesday in Jay Superior Court.

The four wastewater plant employees who filed the suit signed a settlement agreement last week. The suit also was filed against Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland.

The agreement states that Hosier will remove a letter of reprimand from the files of employees Crystal Chapman, Dean Chapman and Dave McGraw, and plant superintendent Bob Brelsford.

The employees were reprimanded for not attending the mandatory calling hours and funeral of clerk-treasurer Barbara Blackford in July of 2005. Brelsford was written up for not reprimanding his employees.

Hosier declined Thursday to comment on the dismissal.

An Indiana State Board of Accounts report was received by the Jay County Prosecutor's office last week.

The report refers to ghost employment, a class D felony, in relation to city employees being compensated for attending the calling hours and funeral. A grand jury is set to convene in November to determine if any charges will be filed.[[In-content Ad]]