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This November will mark the four-year anniversary of the infamous “swiss cheese” plan by the Town of Fishers to forcibly annex residents around Geist Reservoir. While the Geist United Opposition has kept Fishers at bay for nearly 48 months, if they can buy just 3 more months of time they get a bonus 2 year tax increase abatement.
Huh?
According to the State of Indiana’s annexation law, a forced annexation can not take affect in a year preceding a federal census. With a census coming up in 2010, this means that Fishers’ annexation ordinances can not take affect in 2009. The statute reads:
IC 36-4-3-7
(b) An ordinance described in subsection (d) or adopted under section 3, 4, 5, or 5.1 of this chapter may not take effect during the year preceding a year in which a federal decennial census is conducted. An ordinance that would otherwise take effect during the year preceding a year in which a federal decennial census is conducted takes effect January 2 of the year in which a federal decennial census is conducted.
In other words, if the GUO can buy three more months of time, they get 24 months of tax increase abatements for free. With the new 1% tax cap proposed by Governor Daniels set to take affect in 2010, postponing the annexation into next year makes this whole issue mute.
As I wrote in April of this year (“Time for Fishers and Geist to Reach a Compromise“), both sides should have been able to reach an agreement and end this fight months ago. Neither has nothing more than pride to fight for at this point. Even a court-ordered mediation couldn’t resolve this fight.
With Fishers firmly dug into their $1.2 million trench, the GUO is looking for a new law firm to represent them in two weeks when this all goes to court. I’ve heard that several suitors have stepped forward to help them in their fight and they should be making an announcement by this Friday.
September 24, 2008
Geist residents get attorney, want hearing date delayed
By Carrie Ritchie
Carrie.Ritchie@indystar.com
Geist residents taking Fishers to court over its attempt to annex about 2,200 homes in the Geist Reservoir area have found a new attorney — as long as the Oct. 1 hearing date is postponed.
Stephen R. Buschmann is taking the case if Hamilton County Superior Court Judge Steven Nation agrees to continue it, but Fishers attorney Bryan Babb is objecting to a delay. Nation will determine how to proceed during a telephone conference scheduled for 3 p.m. today.
“At this point, I’m so new in the case on a factual basis it’s just going to take some time to get my hands around it,” Buschmann said.
Geist residents had filed for a continuance Sept. 16 at the same time they were severing ties with their Krieg Devault attorneys, but Nation denied their request.
Babb filed a lengthy objection to the request Sept. 17, and filed a supplement to his objection today to reinforce the town’s belief that Geist residents filed for a continuance only to delay annexation because they want to postpone paying more taxes.
Babb said earlier in the week that a delay will cost Fishers time and money because the town’s witnesses and lawyers are prepared to attend an Oct. 1 hearing.
The town has already spent more than $1,243,070 since January 2007 to annex the area. Geist residents report spending about $100,000.
Geist residents officially ended their relationship with Krieg Devault attorneys Monday and were ordered to find new representation by Friday. If they didn’t find representation by then, Nation could have ordered the residents to represent themselves at the hearing. A status conference had been set for 4 p.m. Friday to determine how to proceed.
At a Geist United Opposition meeting Tuesday night, the group’s president Pete Peterson said the group had five attorneys to choose from. They selected Buschmann because of his experience with annexation cases.
Buschmann is representing Home Place in its lawsuit against Carmel’s annexation attempts. Babb is representing Carmel in that case. Babb said he wasn’t surprised Geist chose Buschmann, and Buschmann said he’s looking forward to going up against Babb again.
September 25, 2008
Judge dismisses Fishers residents’ due process lawsuit
By Carrie Ritchie
Carrie.Ritchie@indystar.com
A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit four Fishers residents filed against the town in federal court earlier this year.
Kevin Peterson, one of the plaintiffs, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest this morning in his garage, said Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Vicky Dunbar. She said foul play was not suspected.
Kevin Peterson and his wife, Caroline Peterson, along with another couple, filed the lawsuit over the town’s construction of Cyntheanne Park near 126th Street and Cyntheanne Road, which bordered their property. They alleged in the lawsuit that the town violated zoning laws, as well as the residents’ right to due process.
Kevin Peterson had complained about the noise and crowd the park would bring.
“What they are building here is a sports complex, not a park, with a public address system, lights and a huge parking lot,” Kevin Peterson said in August. “When we tried to talk to the town about how this was (intruding) on our privacy, they wouldn’t listen, so we were forced to go to court.”
Judge Richard Young threw out the case because the plaintiffs didn’t “state a claim upon which relief can be granted,” Young wrote in his order to dismiss the case.
The trial was a waste of the town’s time and money, Fishers attorney Doug Church said Wednesday afternoon. He couldn’t estimate how much it cost the town.
“Any dollar we spent was a dollar more than we should’ve had to,” Church said.
Though the case failed in court, it played a role in the fall voter referendum that could strip Fishers of its zoning authority over areas in Fall Creek Township that are outside the town’s boundaries. The Geist residents who collected signatures for the referendum to appear on the ballot used the case as an example of why Fishers should no longer be in charge of zoning outside its boundaries.
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