City Joins 9A Road Lawsuit
Mayor casts
deciding vote
By Mike Siroky
PLYMOUTH � Plymouth has decided to join the lawsuit brought by businessman John �Jack� Oliver against the Indiana Department of Transportation, protesting the plans to alter the crossing of 9A road at U.S. 31
The 3-2 vote was strictly along party lines, with the Democratic members of the City Council, Michelle Livinghouse and Max Schuh joined by Mayor Jim Yeazel, voting to tie the city into the lawsuit for however long it takes at whatever cost to the taxpayers. Republicans Chuck Ripley and Ken Lukenbill voted against the proposal.
As all of the above are up for election � and most are even challenged in primaries this year ��how this plays out could have an impact on the city elections. At the very least, the electorate will be able to register its opinion soon.
Councilman Ed Kelso, who works for Oliver Ford, recused himself from the vote. That left it 2-2 with Yeazel the deciding vote.
This often-delayed vote came to a head at the urging of Oliver�s attorney, Jim Clevenger. Oliver himself chose to not attend the meeting.
His attorney, Clevenger, is the also county attorney. The crossing is outside city limits. It is in the jurisdiction of the county commission. Clevenger has not pitched for support from the commissioners, even as the outside attorney for the plaintiffs. The county leaders have declined to get involved, allowing the state agency to proceed with the plan to stop traffic from crossing U.S. 31 while still allowing access for northbound or southbound vehicles to turn onto 9A.
Oliver and other businessmen involved in the roadblock for InDOT�s plan to improve safety at the crossing have not been able to get much of an audience with the state agency. A local judge halted InDOT�s proposed im-provements to allow an appeal.
InDOT has until March 24 to supply its appeal. The plaintiffs have 30 more days after that to respond.
City engineers suggested the city should not join the lawsuit. The city attorney was not present and has not supplied an opinion to the council on the matter. Among the issues is whether the city, now also a plaintiff in the suit, could be legally responsible should another injury or death accident occur at the crossing, as the city has joined the move to stop InDOT�s safety plans.
Clevenger presented a clever argument that the city�s reputation would be needed to get InDOT to hear options or make more studies, even if the best plan turns out to be the one the state agency has already mapped out. �If the city gets involved, then InDOT must pay attention,� said Clevenger.
State Representative Steve Heim has pledged to look into helping fashion a meeting between the warring parties, but he was not asked to come into the mess until Saturday, at the Plymouth legislative coffee.
City engineer Mike Strang recounted how he has worked with InDOT for 30 years. He asked the council to not
join the lawsuit. He said InDOT has a long memory when it comes to cities and towns opposing its work. He suggested Plymouth had been blessed with getting state-funded im-provements and, to become ob-structionists might move the city to the �back of the line� when it comes to future projects requiring InDOT�s aid. �I am sure they will use this as a club over our head. I know how they think,� he said.
Steve Benczik, another engineer who serves on the Sanitary Board, said much of the same, favoring discussion over litigation.
Ripley mentioned the cost to the city and made it clear, even though he opposed the move, that the city was not liable for costs already incurred in this appeals process. He cannot stop the costs from this day on.
Lukenbill asked for at least a review by the city�s legal team of potential liabilities. He grilled Clevenger on the issue of city liability.
�I am not against those folks who use 9A Road; I use it myself,� he said. �But I am concerned about the city�s liability and about spending an unspecified amount of money. I don�t feel we are in a position to make an informed decision without even an opinion from the city attorney.�
Ripley also asked about costs, asking �When will we stop enjoining these protests? At what cost?�
Livinghouse had said this was not a city matter or a county matter, but a �community matter.�
She said, �I don�t know what the solution is.� She then made the motion to join the plaintiffs, choosing that over simply filing an opinion with the appeals court agreeing with the lawsuit. Schuh seconded the motion. And the mayor provided the muscle vote.
Another lawsuit
David Chlebek, a union representative of United Steel Workers of America Local 12775, was next up, with an update on the proposed downsizing of NIPSCO offices.
The city is also a plaintiff in that appeal. Known costs at this juncture are in excess of $10,000, according to the city�s accounting records.
Ripley asked several items for Chlebek to confirm costs. Chlebek said he could not.
Chlebek was there to plead with city officials to attend the NIPSCO field hearing on closures next month in LaPorte. �It�s an issue of public safety,� he said, though he did mention an opinion 47 union jobs would be lost either through attrition, reassignment or simply elimination of positions. One of the three NIPSCO offices would close in Plymouth under the utility�s plan, with repairmen instead dispatched to the area from nearby Goshen.
�You have been with us since the beginning (of the lawsuit seeking to block the utility company from closing offices); this is where it comes to,� said Chlebek of the field hearing. He did say there had been faint whispers of settlements discussions, but none loud enough to dissuade the union folks from spearheading the protests.
Other Council Matters
�Kelso had started the council meeting by thanking the community for the support shown to the family of the late Karen Carmean, a high school classmate of his, who had lost a battle to brain cancer last week.
The community had a fund-raiser this weekend. �As usual, Plymouth rises to the occasion when someone needs help,� Kelso said.
�Lukenbill asked that the city begin to focus on the budget process.
Kelso agreed, saying perhaps each council member could take a �chunk� of the budget and work with the appropriate affected city agency, rather than all of them trying to engulf the whole budget as a group.
Ripley agrees with that premise.
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