State Supreme Court takes on land appeal
“ndiana’s highest court has decided to hear a case in which hundreds of thousands of Clark County taxpayer dollars are at stake.
South Central Regional Airport Authority Attorney Greg Fifer wrote to county officials and members of the authority last week to inform them that the Indiana Supreme Court has vacated the Indiana Court of Appeals’ ruling in an eminent domain case.
In 2009, the now-defunct Clark County Board of Aviation Commissioners — which the authority replaced last month — used eminent domain to acquire property owned by Margaret Dreyer for a runway expansion project at the Clark County Regional Airport.
Dreyer sued the air board, saying the appraisals the board used to determine the value of the property acquired through eminent domain were wrong, won the case and was awarded a judgment of $865,000. In January 2012, Clark County became party to the case when Dreyer’s motion to have the “civil government of Clark County” pay the judgment was granted. The Court of Appeals later upheld the verdict.
According to Fifer’s email, the Supreme Court could do one of two things: reach the same verdict as the Court of Appeals, or affirm the county’s position that the judgment was void.”
Koesters, Matt. News and Tribune 25 August 2013.