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Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Ind. Law - Madison County officials can’t talk about Mallard Lake landfill

An interesting story by Stephen Dick in the Anderson Herald Bulletin today. Some quotes:

When the Madison County commissioners took a hit about being silent on the Mallard Lake landfill in The Herald Bulletin on March 26, they wanted to explain to the newspaper why they haven’t spoke out for or against the project.

The reason is simple, said Paul Wilson and John Richwine (Pat Dillon wasn’t present at the meeting): Saying something could influence a decision the county’s board of zoning appeals made years ago and they can’t do that.

“It’s kept the commissioners from having personal opinions,” said the commissioners’ attorney Jim Wilson, who said state statute prevents the commissioners from interfering with an appellate board, in this case the BZA, even though both groups fall under the umbrella of the county.

“We can’t talk about their business,” said Paul Wilson.

“The (Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association) has tied our hands,” said Richwine. “We can’t make our opinions public. We’re not even at liberty to do that.”

What Richwine was referring to was a lawsuit brought by the KCCA, the Anderson Community School Corp. and Steve Wilkinson against the BZA’s decision to grant JM Corp. a permit to construct a landfill at County Roads 300 East and 300 North.

Here is the earlier Herald Bulletin story referenced above.

Here is a Nov. 17, 2004 ILB entry on the Mallard Lake dispute.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 5, 2006 07:59 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Law