Miami River project stalls
Commissioners decide further legal review needed

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The five-county joint board of commissioners is back to square one on the Miami River improvement project after a Tuesday afternoon meeting in which a majority of the members present voted to rescind the action that set the project in motion.

The $1 million cleanup is now on hold because there was no action to kill it.

Now, the joint board will await a legal opinion from the five prosecutors who represent the counties and possibly from the Ohio Attorney General’s office.

The board came together Tuesday at the request of Logan County Commissioner John Bayliss, who has been discussing ways to proceed after Logan County voters had the issue placed on the November ballot and a majority rejected it.

Six citizens were allowed to speak at the beginning of the meeting, addressing primarily the lack of attention that has been paid to the vote of approximately 80 percent of the property owners in the project area. They also cited problems with the way the project will be funded, which requires that property owners be assessed $25 per parcel for the cleanup.

After an introductory vote that allowed the board to discuss the action they took Aug. 29, 2006, Mr. Bayliss moved that the board rescind that resolution to proceed with the project.

“I believe with a project such as this, we represent not only counties in which we reside, but the area as a whole,” Mr. Bayliss said in urging his fellow commissioners to turn down the project.

Shelby County Commissioner Dale Deloye, one of three no votes on the motion to reconsider, said he believes the ends justify the means.

“There is no question this project needs to be done, but there is a big question about how we need to proceed,” he said before the vote. “Maybe we are not going in the right direction, but what I don’t want to see happen is that this goes nowhere because we vote it down.”

When the vote came, the 13 members present voted 10-3 to rescind the action. Joining Mr. Deloye in voting no were Auglaize County Commissioners Doug Spencer and Ivo Kramer.

A motion was passed 11-2 to postpone any action on the project pending legal advice from both county prosecutors and the attorney general’s office. Mr. Bayliss and Jack Reser of Logan County cast the dissenting votes, preferring to end the project immediately.

The river cleanup now stands as a proposal from the supervisors of the five counties’ soil and water conservation districts to remove log jams from the Great Miami River and Muchinippi Creek just as it had in the weeks before the August 2006 action.

Bob Corbett of Champaign County, who proposed the motion to postpone the vote, said he believes there are too many outstanding legal questions to move forward immediately.

“I think we need to clarify just where we are and where we need to go,” he said. “I don’t think any of us understands it. I know I don’t.”

Mr. Deloye said despite the current controversy in Columbus surrounding Attorney General Marc Dann and his staff, the state’s top legal adviser should weigh in.

“I think the five prosecutors do need to get together, but coming up with something on their own without something from Columbus, we won’t get very far,” he said.

The five prosecutors have already conferred and determined the project should move forward — advice that has caused a wave of unrest and threats of lawsuits challenging the project.

A lawyer in the audience, Anthony Seegers, who was representing property owner Farrell Knief, said the process has been marked with flaws.

“There is absolutely positively no way on God’s green earth any legal opinion could say Logan County should take part in this project,” he said.

The move to postpone the project pending legal advice didn’t sit well with most of the 30 or so residents who attended the meeting.

“This joint board has no respect for Logan County voters,” Quincy property owner Becky Berger said. “This is really a very misguided project. My question is why are 15 people with title of commissioners trying so hard to push it down our throats.”

Mr. Bayliss said he wishes the joint board would have voted to end the project.

“I respect the position of my fellow commissioners, but I was hoping to reach a final resolution today,” he said.

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