Counsel for the Marshall County Commissioners, Sean Surrisi, updated the Board on the status of litigation that was filed against them by the Marshall County Council in regard to the Tamarack Solar Farm project.
In the course of the public dispute over allowing the project to move forward, the Council filed suit against the Commissioners over their passing of a decommissioning plan that was approved by the Commissioners on Sept. 16, 2024, by a vote of 2-1, seeking to have it overturned. The plan is necessary for the project to obtain a building permit, without which it could not proceed.
With the subsequent makeup of both government boards changing and the project halted by the denial of a zoning variance of use — pending a decision on separate litigation, the Council voted to dismiss the suit against the Commissioners.
Surrisi reported that a judge in the case had called a hearing to discuss the status of the case on Friday, Feb. 14.
The Council had filed the dismissal “without prejudice” meaning that they reserved the right to refile the case at some point in the future if the issues that it was originally filed for, i.e. the decommissioning agreement, became relevant again.
Surrisi said the Judge would issue an order in the next few weeks. The attorney for Tamarack said that pending the judge’s decision that they might consider filing a motion for attorney’s fees that he would discuss with his client.
The stance of Tamarack is that the suit filed by the Council was a “baseless claim” and that the Council had made the announcement of the suit in October and then filed it the day before a BZA hearing with the assertion being that it was not a legal dispute but an attempt by the Council to influence the decision of the BZA.
“It could be concluded but depending on where the judge goes with it there could be some more maneuvering in that litigation,” said Surrisi.
