Tag: remonstration

Bloomington still looking for annexation trial to start sooner, not later

Lawrence county circuit court photo of special judge for Bloomington annexation lawsuit Nathan Nikirk

The city of Bloomington is now executing a two-pronged approach to overcoming a setback in early September, in its effort to get a standard annexation trial moving ahead.

In early September, special judge Nathan Nikirk put off a standard judicial review of the Area 1A and Area 1B annexations, which were approved by Bloomington’s city council two years ago. The areas are located to just to the west of the city boundary.

Nikirk’s Nov. 5 ruling said that the standard annexation trials for Area 1A and Area 1B would be delayed, until Bloomington’s related, but separate litigation—over constitutional questions related to annexation waivers—is resolved. At the time, resolution seemed like a couple years away.

But that separate litigation is now resolved—at least as far as it affects Area 1A and Area 1B. On Sept. 19, special judge Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County granted Bloomington’s motion for dismissal of the Area 1A and Area 1B constitutional cases, and agreed to reconsolidate just the five remaining lawsuits.

That appears to satisfy the “until” condition in Nikirk’s Sept. 5 order. That is, the separate litigation, as it relates to Area 1A and Area 1B, is now resolved.

With Hanlon’s dismissal now in hand, Bloomington has requested that Nikirk lift his order  on the delay, so that Bloomington can go ahead and make its case to Nikirk for the annexations. Continue reading “Bloomington still looking for annexation trial to start sooner, not later” →

Bloomington moves to dismiss 2 of own lawsuits as legal tactic to push annexation trial ahead

Ten days ago, the city of Bloomington lost an argument in court, to move ahead with the standard judicial review of annexation for two areas west of town.

The shading on the map reflects a 1-dot-per-person plot based on the population of census blocks as measured in the 2020 decennial census.

Two days later, on Sept. 7, the city of Bloomington filed a motion to start the process to appeal the ruling of special judge Nathan Nikirk, out of Lawrence County.

Nikirk had ordered that the standard annexation trials for Area 1A and Area 1B would be delayed, until Bloomington’s related but separate litigation—over constitutional questions related to annexation waivers—is resolved.

The related constitutional litigation is actually a consolidation of seven separate lawsuits, one for each of the annexation areas.

In addition to the appeals process, the city of Bloomington has now started another procedure that could lead to faster scheduling of a standard annexation trial for the two areas. The idea is to take a step towards quick resolution of the related constitutional litigation—but just for Area 1A and Area 1B.

On Wednesday, Bloomington’s legal tactic was to file a motion to dismiss its own lawsuits for Area 1A and Area 1B, over the constitutional question of waivers.

The idea is that if the special judge Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County were to grant Bloomington’s motion for dismissal of the Area 1A and Area 1B constitutional cases, and agrees to reconsolidate just the five remaining lawsuits, that would satisfy the condition of Nikirk’s Sept. 5 order. Continue reading “Bloomington moves to dismiss 2 of own lawsuits as legal tactic to push annexation trial ahead” →

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”” →

Annexation update: Bloomington’s count of signatures points to potential success of some remonstrance efforts, looming litigation

Property owners in three so-called island areas inside Bloomington, which Bloomington’s city council decided to annex last year, might have mounted successful remonstrance efforts that will leave nothing to argue about in court.

It’s far from settled, but that’s one takeaway from the numbers provided in a city of Bloomington news release that was issued on Tuesday morning.

The final tally from Monroe County’s side of the remonstration process is not required until around the end of February.

Even the numbers in Bloomington’s Tuesday news release can’t be considered the city’s final view of how many valid remonstrance signatures have been submitted. An early version of the city’s news release included a mistake that was chalked up to a typo in a spreadsheet formula.

The news release includes numbers of remonstrance signatures the city has received from the Monroe County auditor. Also included is a breakdown of how many signatures are subject to a remonstrance waiver older than 15 years, and how many are subject to a remonstrance waiver less than 15 years old. A remonstrance waiver is a signed document that gives up the right of a property owner to remonstrate against annexation, in exchange for the ability to hook up to the city’s sewer system. Continue reading “Annexation update: Bloomington’s count of signatures points to potential success of some remonstrance efforts, looming litigation” →

Annexation fight: Strong signature counts in all areas as deadline passes, wait starts for final tally

Monroe County auditor, Cathy Smith, in her office.
The plot of dots is from the 2020 census. 1 dot = 1 person counted in the census, with randomized locations within each census block.
County commissioner, Penny Githens.
County commissioner Penny Githens (left) speaks with Margaret Clements.
Monroe County courthouse rotunda on Jan. 6, 2022.
Area 4 remonstrance organizer Susan Brackney.
County commissioner Julie Thomas.

The close of the business day on Thursday marked an end to the 90-day period of remonstration against the decision by Bloomington’s city council in late September 2021 to annex seven separate territories into the city.

Remonstration means signing an official petition in opposition to annexation. On Thursday, the Monroe County auditor’s office had fresh signature numbers to report, as of Wednesday.

Based on those numbers, property owners in six of seven areas have a decent chance of blocking Bloomington’s annexation effort outright. In those six areas, more than 65 percent of property owners have submitted signatures. That’s the key threshold.

Here’s the breakdown: Area 1-A (73.83%); Area 1-B( 56.90%); Area 1-C (87.62%); Area 2 (80.44%); Area 3 (75.25%); Area 4 (71.74%); and Area 5 (68.13%)

The numbers reported on Thursday do not reflect the county auditor’s final determination. Any number of reasons could still cause the auditor, on further review, to conclude that a signature is not valid. Among the reasons: The signature a duplicate.

The auditor could also conclude that a remonstrance waiver attached to a property in connection with sewer service is valid, which would eliminate the signature from the count.

About the timeline for final counts, Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith told The B Square: “We know it won’t be any sooner than the third week of January.” That depends in part on how long some final back-and-forth takes between the auditor’s office and Bloomington’s city attorney.

But Smith said she would love for the signature validation process for all the areas to be wrapped up by the end of January. If not, she would like it to be done by mid-February. Continue reading “Annexation fight: Strong signature counts in all areas as deadline passes, wait starts for final tally” →

A look ahead to 2022: Bloomington area local government stories

North Walnut Street Lamp on Christmas Eve

Last year’s lead art for The B Square’s look ahead to 2021 featured this caption: “These numerals began life as a photograph of the sidewalk around the courthouse square in downtown Bloomington, where the crows like to crap. It was that kind of year.”

Arguably a worse year was 2021. So this year’s art includes an actual crow and a built-in sense of foreboding. Is that kid going to land his jump over the crow to get to next year?

Here’s an incomplete roundup of stories to watch in 2022 Continue reading “A look ahead to 2022: Bloomington area local government stories” →