PLYMOUTH — Legal counsel led the meeting for the Marshall County Sewer District Board as the court wrangling continues with the Marshall County Commissioners and Council concerning the district.
Recently, members of both of those boards met with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, asking them to dissolve the district.
A correspondence from IDEM Commissioner Clint Woods on the resolutions by the Council and Commissioners, and a proposed response, were brought up by Sewer Board Attorney Chris Nusbaum. Woods’ correspondence asks the District for its perspective on those resolutions.
Nusbaum presented the District’s proposed response, which was approved at the meeting. Nusbaum explained that the response outlines the District’s appreciation of IDEM’s continued review and oversight of its plan in the best interest of the community; that the District remains committed to transparency in its process carrying out the approved plan in accordance with IC § 13-26; and accordingly the District will coordinate with IDEM throughout this process and provide IDEM with additional information as appropriate as funding options are solidified and the project advances through its natural phases.
The second topic from legal counsel was an update on the litigation status of the Marshall County Commissioners and Bill Woodward’s case against Trustee Thomas McFadden. Nusbaum explained that a hearing will be held on Friday on whether to dismiss the Commissioners from the amended complaint and reduce the matters before the court to solely the Quo Warranto complaint brought by Woodward. Additionally, Nusbaum explained that his office had received an updated coverage opinion from the District’s insurer and that the District’s insurer has agreed to advance reasonable and necessary defense costs for the defense of McFadden to the allegations in the amended complaint. The District has a $5,000 deductible, and Carson LLP is working with the insurer to confirm its invoicing and bill payment practices.
Nusbaum noted that ultimately the District should have little if any additional cost not covered by the insurer in defending McFadden; unlike the Commissioners and Mr. Woodward.
