Tag: hearing

Abatement order for Washington Street property granted by Bloomington board of public works

The photo of the property at 530 Washington St. was provided in the meeting information packet
Bloomington’s board of public works from left: Jennifer Lloyd, Elizabeth Karon, Kyla Cox Deckard.
From left: HAND compliance officer Rob Council and assistant city attorney Chris Wheeler
Joe Davis, owner of 530 Washington St.

The city of Bloomington plans either to hire a contractor or send its own staff to the property at 530 Washington St. to bring it into compliance with a local law.

The law says you can’t “throw, place, or scatter any garbage, recyclable materials or yard waste over or upon any premises, street, alley, either public or private…”

At its regular Tuesday meeting, Bloomington’s three-member board of public works granted a request from the city’s housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department, for abatement of Joe Davis’s residential property.

Davis had previously appeared before the board to appeal a total of $200 in fines imposed for the city’s notices of violations, saying that the materials that are stacked around his property are not garbage, but rather building materials and tools. They’re needed for the kind of active construction site he is overseeing, he has said.

That’s the position that Davis has outlined in a tort claim that he has sent to the city. The claim is against the city of Bloomington, the HAND department, the department of public works, and the board of public works.

Under an abatement order, the city will be able to send Davis a bill for the work that’s done on the property to bring it into compliance. Continue reading “Abatement order for Washington Street property granted by Bloomington board of public works” →

Judge: No more time for remonstrators to collect signatures against Bloomington annexation

Screen shot of text from ruling. The text reads: 94. As to Count II only of Remonstrators’ Petition for Appeal of Annexation, for Declaratory Judgment, and for Damages filed on March 16, 2022, the Court GRANTS Bloomington’s Rule 12(C) motion that was treated as a motion for summary judgment and disposed of under rule 56 of the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure; and DENIES Remonstrators’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. 95. The Court sets an attorney-only telephonic scheduling conference for March 3, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. for purposes of setting the date(s) for a remonstrance hearing and deadlines. Counsel for Remonstrators to initiate the call with the Court.

Remonstrators against Bloomington’s annexation efforts will not be given any extra time to collect signatures.

The 90-day period for collecting remonstration signatures against Bloomington’s annexation efforts ended over a year ago, on Jan. 6, 2022.

A court ruling against any additional time for signature collection came Thursday from the special judge in the case, Nathan Nikirk out of Lawrence County.

They had asked the judge to grant them additional time for signature collection, under a state statute that provides certain emergency powers [IC 34-7-6-1].  The emergency in question is the COVID-19 pandemic.

A status conference with the judge and the parties to the lawsuit is set for March 3.

Reached on Friday by The B Square, Margaret Clements, with County Residents Against Annexation, which is a plaintiff in the case, said that all legal options will be considered in response to Nikirk’s ruling, including an interlocutory appeal of Thursday’s decision. Continue reading “Judge: No more time for remonstrators to collect signatures against Bloomington annexation” →

Next year’s first ruling on a Bloomington annexation lawsuit could depend on meaning of “proceeding”

Video screen inside the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center, showing visitors where proceedings are taking place for the day.
Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center at 7th Street and College Avenue.
Room 313 at the north end of the second floor hallway, where Friday’s proceeding was held.

At the end of a Friday hearing that lasted about an hour and 20 minutes, special judge Nathan Nikirk did not issue a ruling in the case that remonstrators against Bloomington’s annexation have brought to the court.

Friday’s hearing involved the remonstrators in Area 1A and Area 1B, who collected signatures from more than 50 percent of land owners, which was enough to qualify for judicial review, but fell short of the 65 percent threshold that would have stopped annexation outright.

Area 1A is just west of Bloomington. Area 1B lies to the southwest.

Remonstrators in those two areas are asking that the judge grant them additional time for signature collection, under a state statute that provides certain emergency powers. [IC 34-7-6-1]  The emergency in question is the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the fact that the judge didn’t issue a ruling on Friday, based on the clarification that Nikirk requested from both sides during the hearing, his eventual decision could depend on the interpretation of the word “proceeding” as used in the statute on emergency powers. Nikirk wanted both sides to lay out how they understand the concept of “proceeding” under that statute.

The statute refers to the emergency powers as applying to a “proceeding…pending before a court, a body, or an official, that exists under the constitution or laws of Indiana.”

At the end of the hearing, Nikirk asked both sides to prepare proposed orders on the question by Jan. 6, 2023.

Nikirk’s ruling on the question of a time extension will by no means settle the question of whether annexation happens, either in Area 1A or Area 1B, or the other areas, which are also subject to pending litigation. Continue reading “Next year’s first ruling on a Bloomington annexation lawsuit could depend on meaning of “proceeding”” →

Booker case won’t be heard by Monroe County judge

It will not be a Monroe County judge who tries the case of Vauhxx Booker, a former Bloomington resident who two and a half weeks ago was charged by special prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp with battery and criminal trespass.

Walking down the steps of the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center after Tuesday’s hearing are Vauhxx Booker, right, and his attorney Katherine Liell, left.

On Tuesday afternoon at a scheduled hearing, Monroe County circuit court judge Valeri Haughton announced that she would be recusing herself from the case.

Leerkamp was appointed to handle the charges of Booker’s two alleged assailants, which include battery and criminal confinement. She charged Booker, after a restorative justice process did not come to a successful resolution.

One of Leerkamp’s court filings pegged the timeframe for the collapse of the restorative justice process as exactly a year after the incident: “on or about July 4, 2021.”

The charges against all three men arose in connection with an incident that took place a year ago on July 4, near Lake Monroe. Booker described it as an “attempted lynching.”

A back-and-forth between Haughton and Booker’s attorney, Katherine Liell, drew out the fact that all the other Monroe County judges had also recused themselves.

That means it will be the Indiana Supreme Court that decides which judge will hear Booker’s case. Tuesday’s hearing could have been the occasion of the initial hearing, when Booker would have offered a plea.

That will now wait until it is determined who the judge will be.

Continue reading “Booker case won’t be heard by Monroe County judge” →

Bloomington annexation hearing updates: Possible postponement until 4 p.m. with no in-person access

The Bloomington city council announced in a news bulletin released a few minutes after 2 p.m. on Wednesday (Aug. 4) a possible change to its scheduled 3 p.m. public hearing at city hall on annexation.

The council could consider a motion to postpone the start of the meeting until 4 p.m.

If the motion were to pass, the news release seems to indicate the meeting would resume at 4 p.m. but would be accessible only through electronic participation.

The meeting had been advertised as one that would take place in hybrid fashion. That is, it would be accessible either in person or via the Zoom video conference platform.

Any updates known to The B Square will be added below. Continue reading “Bloomington annexation hearing updates: Possible postponement until 4 p.m. with no in-person access” →