Justin Schneider
justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com
Can Mallard Lake Landfill get a fair trial in Madison County?
That question is likely on the mind of Madison Superior Judge Dennis Carroll, who has taken under advisement a request by the county for a change of venue.
Jerry Shine filed a motion to dismiss and a motion for a
change of venue on behalf of the county Nov. 14 and 15 in Madison Superior Court in the case of Killbuck Concerned Citizens v. Michael Hershman, former county planning director. Shine said the motions were prepared by Michael R. Hartman and Mary E. Solada of Indianapolis-based law firm Bingham, McHale LLP, which represents Madison County in matters related to the landfill.
Larry Witham, attorney for landfill opponents Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association, said he attended a pretrial hearing on Dec. 7 with Carroll, Shine and Hartman. He said Carroll has taken the change of venue under advisement and made no ruling on the motion to dismiss.
“No judge presented with a change of venue is likely to rule upon a motion to dismiss,” Witham said. “If the request for change of venue is properly brought and granted, then he can rule on the dismissal.”
In 1978, J.M. Corp. announced plans to create a landfill at the corner of county roads 300 East and 300 North in rural Richland Township. But the project has been mired in controversy and legal battles for parts of four decades, due in part to Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association, or KCCA.
On Aug. 24, KCCA filed a petition for mandate against Hershman, claiming that he had failed in his duties by refusing to bring the issue of the Mallard Lake Landfill before the Madison County Board of Zoning Appeals. The KCCA has long claimed that a special-use exception for the landfill granted by the BZA expired in 1982.
In the motion to dismiss, Hartman and Solada claim a “lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter. The issues alleged by plaintiffs are not ripe for adjudication and the relief requested by plaintiff’s administrative appeal is already satisfied by the Madison County Zoning Ordinance, thereby mooting plaintiffs’ appeal.”
Shine previously said that Carroll had disqualified himself from landfill-related proceedings in the past and would likely do so again.
“We aren’t going to get a judge in Madison County to hear this case,” Shine told The Herald Bulletin. “We need to be fair to everyone.”
Hershman resigned his position as Madison County planning director in November.
“I don’t know what the rationale is for spending taxpayer dollars to defend this landfill,” said KCCA President Bill Kutschera. “Pretty much everyone agrees it’s a bad idea.”
