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Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Ind. Law - Lawsuit targets Hartford ethanol plant
"Lawsuit targets Hartford ethanol plant" is the headline to a story today in the Muncie Star-Press. Some quotes:
HARTFORD CITY -- Dan and Susan Baughey, 1704 W. Water St., filed a lawsuit Monday that could halt the proposed $150 million Hartford Energy ethanol plant.In 1999, the area plan commission and county commissioners re-zoned land for the expansion of Blackford Industrial Park over the objections of the Baugheys and others.
In February of that year, the Blackford Industrial Development Corp. promised county officials that it had created restrictive covenants to protect the interests of the Baugheys and other neighbors, the lawsuit contends.
"However, the BIDC never filed any restrictive covenants against the real estate," according to the lawsuit filed by the Muncie firm DeFur Voran, which accuses BIDC of breach of contract and constructive fraud.
BIDC now intends to convey the real estate in question -- without restrictive covenants -- to Hartford Energy, Baughey says.
Hartford Energy's use of the property would violate the covenants that BIDC led county officials to believe existed in order to induce them to approve the rezoning, the lawsuit argues.
Baughey claims Robert Barry, an attorney and officer of BIDC, represented to the plan commission and to county commissioners that BIDC had filed restrictive covenants against the property.
Exhibits in the lawsuit include minutes of public meetings in 1999 and a Hartford City News-Times news article from that year.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 15, 2005 08:20 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Law | Indiana economic development