Annexation update: Bloomington mayor, city council to hold closed-door meeting on litigation

The image is a screenshot from the entry in the city’s online calendar.

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson has called a closed-door meeting with the city council for next Wednesday evening (Aug 14), to brief councilmembers on the city’s pending annexation litigation.

Under state law, the discussion of pending litigation is one of several reasons why a public agency can hold a meeting that is not open to the public. Indiana’s Open Door Law calls such meetings “executive sessions.”

The pending litigation involves two separate cases, both of which Bloomington recently lost on the circuit court level.

In one of the cases, the city council is a named defendant. The other defendants are the city of Bloomington, John Hamilton as mayor at the time, and Catherine Smith as county auditor at the time. Continue reading “Annexation update: Bloomington mayor, city council to hold closed-door meeting on litigation” →

Weeklong Bloomington annexation trial: It’s a wrap, each side gets 45 days to submit final brief

Attorneys in the annexation trial wanted to be able to leave their exhibits in the courtroom overnight, so a sign was placed instructing the cleaning crew to skip the courtroom used for the annexation trial. (May 2, 2024)

Map of annexation areas. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_7o1q_H6CpeK-1gdEzDTxnPk84RZQ_E&usp=sharing

The image of Reed Quarries is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

Now over is the trial on the merits of Bloomington’s plan to annex two territories on the west and southwest sides of the city.

Around 3 p.m. on Friday, both sides rested their cases after five full days of witness testimony in the courtroom, located inside the justice center at College Avenue and 7th Street in downtown Bloomington.

This past week’s trial was just about the merits of annexing Area 1A and Area 1B into the city, and did not address a different, constitutional question for other territories, which relates to annexation waivers of remonstrance, which were signed by some land owners.

Over the course of the week, not every witness on either list—for the the city of Bloomington, or for the remonstrators—was called to the stand. Those who did testify included current and former elected officials, current and former city staff, the city’s paid consultants, as well as a dozen or more landowners in the areas to be annexed.

Nathan Nikirk, the special judge out of Lawrence County who is presiding over the case, gave the two sides 45 days to submit their proposed orders in the case, which will include their final arguments. No closing oral arguments were given on Friday.

Before leaving the courtroom on Friday, Nikirk thanked all of the attorneys for their professionalism. He noted that annexation is a “passionate issue.”

Nikirk said he does not know the “perfect answer” on the case but promised to do his “very best.” He would be giving the matter all the consideration that he could, Nikirk said. Even if some are not happy with his eventual decision, Nikirk said he hopes that they understand that he had given it a lot of time and effort. Continue reading “Weeklong Bloomington annexation trial: It’s a wrap, each side gets 45 days to submit final brief” →

March 15: Oral arguments on Bloomington’s constitutional challenge to 2019 annexation law

Remonstration counts for each area. 1 dot = 1 person in the 2020 census.

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

Next Friday (March 15) at 8:30 a.m., oral arguments will be heard on Bloomington’s constitutional challenge to a state law about annexation waivers.

It’s part of a long court process to determine how big Bloomington will be in the next few years.

The hearing will take place in Monroe County circuit court at 7th Street and College Avenue.

The state law in question was enacted in 2019. It caused annexation remonstrance waivers to expire, if they were more than 15 years old.

A remonstrance waiver is a document that some landowners signed, agreeing to give up the right to remonstrate against annexation into the city, in exchange for connection to the city sewer system.

At least on the surface, Friday’s hearing on the constitutional question involves just five of the seven areas (Area 1C, Area 2, Area 3, Area 4, and Area 5) for which Bloomington’s city council passed annexation ordinances in 2021.

But a legal thicket involving the other two areas (Area 1A and Area 1B) could have an impact on the way the constitutional case is decided.

Continue reading “March 15: Oral arguments on Bloomington’s constitutional challenge to 2019 annexation law” →

Bloomington proceeding with annexation court cases, might negotiate timeline for adding territory

This past week’s big annexation news was the cancellation of Thursday’s hearing on a cross motion for summary judgment in a constitutional challenge that was filed by Bloomington two years ago.

This graphic contains a table with three columns. Column 1: Label of Annexation Area Column 2: Percentage of remonstrators With 2019 Act Applied Column 3: Percentage of remonstrators without 2019 Act applied 1A 60.94% 37.75% 1B 57.50% 30.91% 1C 71.43% 3.81% 2 71.98% 34.93% 3 66.67% 50.00% 4 70.79% 59.55% 5 66.67% 51.85% — This table, from a recent court filing by the city of Bloomington, sums up the impact of the disputed 2019 law. The left column shows the outcome if the 2019 law is valid and is applied to remonstration signatures: Annexation is stopped outright in five areas (red) and is subject to judicial review in two areas (blue). The right column shows the outcome if the 2019 is unconstitutional: Annexation can proceed forward with no additional steps in five areas (green) and is subject to judicial review in two areas (blue).

But that hearing will be rescheduled. The hearing was canceled, only because the special judge in the case, Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County, recused herself, due to a potential conflict involving her husband’s recent transfer of employment to Monroe County’s legal department.

At the start of the year, the nonprofit organization County Residents Against Annexation (CRAA) had expressed some hope that Bloomington would withdraw its lawsuit.

The constitutional question concerns a 2019 law, enacted by the state legislature, which voided many of the annexation waivers that Bloomington was relying on for a successful annexation effort. The waivers were supposed to ensure that landowners with such waivers attached to their property would not have their signatures counted for any remonstration against annexation.

CRAA president Margaret Clements is quoted in a Jan. 2 news release saying, “Just as the City of Bloomington unilaterally and involuntarily attempted to annex property in the county, only the City of Bloomington can unilaterally end the dispute.”

But it is now clear that new Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration will be looking to proceed with the litigation of all of the pending annexation cases.

Responding to an emailed question from The B Square, Bloomington’s new corporation counsel Margie Rice wrote about the subject of Thursday’s hearing: “I can confirm that the City is not planning on withdrawing this particular lawsuit and intends to allow the annexation litigation to proceed as planned.” Continue reading “Bloomington proceeding with annexation court cases, might negotiate timeline for adding territory” →

Feb. 8 hearing on Bloomington annexation canceled as judge cites potential conflict, recuses self

Judge Kelsey Hanlon, Owen County.

On Thursday, a big event in Bloomington’s years-long effort to annex more territory into the city was canceled.

Not taking place as scheduled was an 11 a.m. hearing at the Monroe County justice center, on a motion for summary judgment in a constitutional challenge that was filed by Bloomington two years ago.

On Thursday, special judge in the case, Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County, issued the order canceling the hearing, and announcing her recusal from the case, which started in March 2022.

The order from Hanlon says: “Due to a recently discovered potential conflict of interests, Kelsey B. Hanlon, Special Judge, now recuses herself as Judge presiding over this matter.” Continue reading “Feb. 8 hearing on Bloomington annexation canceled as judge cites potential conflict, recuses self” →