Indiana American Water sues Town of Mooresville

MOORESVILLE – The Indiana-American Water Company, Inc. has filed a 20-page lawsuit against the Town of Mooresville alleging several violations of law — including the company’s due process rights and the open door law. In August, the town council approved an ordinance to pursue a takeover of the water system, run by IAWC since 2000. The council members said they were getting appraisals done and surveying the property to determine its worth. IAWC officials said on Aug. 7 in a public meeting that they were not willing sellers and would fight an eminent domain takeover in court.

Mooresville Town Council president George Watkins said Friday he has not seen and had not heard of the lawsuit. He didn’t want to comment on something that the town’s attorney in the water case will be reviewing and handling. Attorney J. Christopher Janak of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, Indianapolis, which was appointed by the town in a resolution at a public meeting, also said he had not heard about the suit as of Thursday. Watkins said he is getting information on it now. Mooresville Clerk-Treasurer Sandra Perry said she had not received any information about the suit on Thursday, but she added that her office had just sent off some requested documents to IAWC and its attorney. The suit, which includes the town council and each of the five council members, was filed Thursday morning in Morgan County Circuit Court. IAWC contends they are the victim of improper notice of several council meetings that affected their business and unlawful search and seizure by the town.

The company is requesting Judge Matthew Hanson issue an injunction against the town stopping its takeover actions and award damages to IAWC. According to the suit, IAWC is headquartered in Greenwood and is the largest water utility company in Indiana. The company has more than one million customers in the state which includes Mooresville. Spokesman for IAWC Joe Loughmiller said Thursday that since there is pending litigation regarding these issues, he could not present any additional details at this time.“We obviously have concerns, which are described in the complaint that has been filed, regarding the town council’s actions with regards to due process, access to public records, what they appropriately have access to as a part of the appraisal process and other matters,” Loughmiller said. “The Mooresville Town Council has rejected our repeated requests to meet with them and have instead demanded they be allowed to show up at our Mooresville facility to rifle through our private business records and files. Accordingly, we have concluded we are at an impasse, and these issues will now have to be decided through the legal system.

Open door law problems

IAWC says that on July 23, the town sent a document “purporting to be a notice of a public hearing” to the company. That notice, IAWC contends, was defective because it did not list when and where the meeting would take place. In the notice, a copy of which is included in the suit, lists the attorney representing the town as J. Christopher Janak, of the Bose McKinney & Evans law firm. Anyone who wanted more information about the meeting was to contact Janak. IAWC said officials tried to call Janak but were told by another attorney with the firm they “would not provide further information regarding the hearing or the proposed ordinance.”IAWC said it tried to get a copy of the ordinance from the town’s public website but found the site “could only be accessed by those given a password by the town.”

In the suit, the IAWC says it sent a public request to the town asking for copies of the proposal ordinance, the agenda, notices and minutes of council meetings from 2012, along with studies the town or its consultants had conducted regarding the operation of a water utility. The company did not receive these documents by the Aug. 7 meeting, even though Janak said on July 31 that the materials were being collected. Janak further responded by saying, “applicable non-exempt and responsive materials will be provided within a reasonable time given the circumstances and breadth of the request.”At the Aug. 7 meeting, IAWC said the council allowed the company 30 minutes to speak, Because the company did not have any information about the ordinance or other items and could not address the concerns of the council. Councilman Tony Langley was allowed, however, to make a Power Point presentation of the town’s position, which had been studied and researched over a matter of weeks. The company says the day after the Aug. 7 meeting, the town did provide Langley’s Power Point presentation and a copy of the proposed ordinance.

On Aug. 9, the town did provided some of the requested documents but refused to release a feasibility study a consultant completed and copies of the council’s minutes. Langley and Watkins said they were still gathering information for a study, which would allow them to know if the purchase was feasible. They said the council could withdraw its pursuit of the project if they found it was not the best thing for Mooresville.

On Sept. 24, IAWC says it received a letter from Janak that demanded the company allow access to the town’s representatives, engineers and appraisers, to review “Any contracts that IAWC has (Mooresville Utility) with other utilities and/or entities, All titles for vehicles and equipment and all engineering reports, maintenance and repair logs and well head protection plan.” The town also demanded “All reports, studies, maps and other information detailing all the facilities used by IAWC to provide services to Mooresville customers; all permits, approvals and documentation indicating outstanding loans and liabilities of the utilities and all reports, studies, and compliance papers filed with any state or federal agency.”IAWC was informed the representatives would be on it’s property on Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. The letter stated the inspection may take one day but could “continue from day to day until completed.” IAWC contends it told the town the Oct. 8 day was not convenient but the town went ahead with it. IAWC also says that much of the information listed is not located in Morgan County.

At this time, no date had been scheduled for a hearing.

Amy Hillenburg of the Mooresville-Decatur Times contributed to this story.

By Keith Rhoades | Reporter | Published October 6th, 2012 in The Reporter Times