Stinging from criticism over the Mallard Lake landfill, Madison County Commissioner Paul Wilson issued a statement Friday seeking a way to clear up the relationship between the commissioners and the county Board of Zoning Appeals.

Wilson said the commissioners will enlist the effort of the Baker and Daniels’ law firm in Indianapolis to determine the relationship between the two entities.

The commissioners have maintained that they cannot comment on the landfill matter because of a lawsuit brought against the BZA by the Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association, Anderson Community School Corporation and Steve Wilkerson. The KCCA and Wilkerson have withdrawn their part of the lawsuit, leaving ACS as the only litigant against the county.

“This firm specializes in advising government agencies concerning appropriate and legal operating procedures,” said Wilson in the statement.

Wilson added that the firm will be utilized if there are no conflicts of interest found with the county, noting that the firm has never been involved in the landfill issue.

Helen Wean, president of the KCCA, however, says a lawyer with Baker and Daniels represented Consolidated Waste, a company that paid $10,000 in landfill fees to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for JM Corp. IDEM sent the check back and denied the permit, setting off the current legal matters involving the state and the landfill owners.

“(Baker and Daniels) was a party to the case when IDEM turned JM down on appeal,” Wean said.

Wilson said that if any conflict is found, Baker and Daniels won’t be used.

“(Baker and Daniels was) mentioned up front,” said Wilson. “They’ll do their research before they represent us.”

He added that if it’s discovered Baker and Daniels had anything to do with the landfill, the county will go to another outside attorney. But someone will be brought in, Wilson said, to determine what the commissioners can do.

Wilson said he didn’t know what the cost to the county would be.

“There’s been a barrage of stuff in the paper,” said Wilson. “People believe we can do what we can’t do.”

“I believe the lack of comment has forged distrust of the commissioners when the commissioners have been following legal advice,” Wilson said in his statement. “I have been searching to find a way to elevate the perception that is causing the mistrust.”

He said that two separate attorneys have advised the commissioners that they cannot interfere with the BZA.

In the statement, Wilson said, “If the advice (from Baker and Daniels) is the same as it has been in the past I would hope the results would lay to rest the distrust of some concerning the position taken by the Board of Commissioners.”

Wilson said he hoped the other commissioners were on board with this. Commissioner John Richwine said he was “most certainly” with Wilson and lamented the “amount of distrust” leveled at the commissioners. “It’s not justified,” he said.

“If there is something additional we can do that we’re not, hopefully we’ll find that out,” said Richwine.

A message was left by The Herald Bulletin for Commissioner Patricia Dillon but not returned.

Wean was having none of it.

“That suit’s been there for six years because the BZA attorney (Gerald Shine) would do nothing with it,” said Wean. “Suddenly it’s an election year. That’s got everything to do with it.”

Shine couldn’t be reached for comment.

“I think Paul Wilson is worried about his seat because right now it’s too hot to sit in,” said Wean.

Wilson said he hopes Baker and Daniels, or whoever represents the county, will issue its opinion quickly.

“It’s fairly technical,” said Wilson. “It’s what can we do, what should we do.”