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BY PHIL WIELAND
pwieland@nwitimes.com
219.462.5151 | Tuesday, December 21, 2004 | (No comments posted.)
VALPARAISO | The Knollcreek Homeowners Association decided to drop its legal battle against the city's planned million-gallon water tower.
The group still wants a copy of the engineering report that says the tower won't cause flooding problems.
Association President Jason Lammertin said he talked to residents and made the decision to withdraw the challenge to the city's application for a building permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. He said the group will not pursue any other legal action "for a multitude of reasons."
"The politics of the city, county, state and the country as a whole don't favor the little guy right now," Lammertin said. "We are at the limit of our resources. We are still waiting for answers to the questions we submitted."
In addition to the impact of the tower on drainage in the area, the homeowners questioned the report that said the 158-foot tower would not have an impact on the value of their homes. The report was done by a real estate appraiser hired by the Water Department.
Lammertin said the report was based on homes valued at $70,000 to $80,000, which are not comparable to homes in Knollcreek. He said the city has stopped returning his phone calls.
"My last two calls to the mayor were not answered, and I was told to contact the Water Department and not the mayor," he said.
Patrick McEuen, lawyer for the homeowners group, said he would be contacting the Indianapolis law firm of Baker and Daniels, who were to defend the Water Department in the IDEM complaint. The homeowners claimed the department did not meet the public notification requirements of the law when filing for the building permit.
"I will let them know we don't want them to incur any legal fees and to ask if we can contact the engineer," McEuen said. "All we want to do is look at that report and check to be sure that putting up the tower base will not affect the runoff. We are not talking about a leak from the water tower. We are talking about groundwater from the Meridian Woods subdivision area, and we want to be sure it will not create flooding in the adjacent development."
Utility Director John Hardwick said he was happy with the homeowners' decision, and the city would provide the report by its engineer, DLZ of Hammond. The appraiser's report already was given to the homeowners, and Hardwick said if they have any questions about it, they should ask the appraiser.
"It was a lesson learned for all of us," Lammertin said. "Unfortunately, it's come to a head, and I feel we've done all we could. I represented the neighborhood and tried to get the answers, but I feel I've hit a wall. It's disappointing."
The tower is expected to be completed in 2006.
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