The City of Kokomo is suing Howard County after over a long-running dispute concerning construction of a pedestrian trail near the County Courthouse. The suit comes after Mayor Greg Goodnight issued a stay on a contempt order filed by the County Judge this week.
Kokomo City Attorney Lawrence McCormack says the Howard County court is creating an unnecessary dispute.
"It's just unfortunate that to complete a project that is so popular with our citizens that we have to take the step of asking a court to show the county that we have jurisdiction over our trail project," McCormack says.
The suit, filed Thursday by the city of Kokomo against Howard County, is centered around construction for the expansion of the Industrial Heritage Trail. A part of that project is taking place near the west side of the County Courthouse, which cuts off access to a Courthouse driveway.
In its suit, the city claims the county does not have authority to demand right of way to their driveway off Buckeye Street.
"At this point we're afraid to do any action, to take any action on the trail for fear of further litigation or court action from the county," McCormack says.
The litigation McCormack is referring to is an order of direct contempt of court against the Mayor of Kokomo from County Judge William Menges issued earlier this week.
Menges claims Goodnight ordered a city engineer to put 10 concrete pipes in front of the driveway.
The order, filed August 26th reads, "The respondent's actions were intentional, and solely for the purpose of disrupting the regular proceedings of the court."
McCormack declined to give details about the contempt order because it's ongoing litigation.
Howard County representatives could not be reached for comment.
More On The Dispute
The City of Kokomo started an expansion project for their Industrial Heritage Trail this spring.
Part of the extension takes pedestrians past the west side of the Courthouse. So eventually, access to the Courthouse via the Buckeye Street driveway was closed for construction.
Representing County officials, Judge William Menges expressed concern about the drive's closure, so the city agreed to allow a 12 foot curb cut for vehicular access to the drive. In late July, Menges asked the city to widen the cut to 18 feet, to which the city agreed. The County saw the lack of access as a threat to the secure transfer of inmates into the Courthouse.
As construction went on there was still discontent from county officials over the availability of access to the drive.
On August 22nd, in anticipation of an upcoming hearing, the County contacted the trail's project manager for an updated timeline of the drive's closure. The order reads, "The Project Manager was told if it were not restored, the County would temporarily restore access using stone, which the County would then remove when the contractor was ready to resume work on the driveway."
By August 26th, the county took action to have stone spread over the driveway.
From there, the Judge writes that Goodnight ordered the City Engineer to order the Project Manager to place "sufficient structures" over the driveway to prevent the spreading of the stone – placing 10 large concrete pipes "in such a manner that access to the driveway was completely blocked."
Judge Menges ordered Mayor Goodnight be "sentenced to the custody of the Howard County Jail, until such time, as he orders the removal of the pipes, and allows the Sheriff to establish vehicular access to the secure west door of the Courthouse."
