Eddy Tridle's lawsuit against the town of Mentone asks Kosciusko Superior Court I to vacate the town's order that Tridle's property at 408 W. Monroe St. be demolished.
The lawsuit also claims the town board is not legally constituted. Town board member Jill Gross lives in Winona Lake, it states, which is outside the town's political boundaries.This morning, town attorney Larry Beeson said Gross lives in Mentone, but has a summer place in Winona Lake.
According to a copy of the amended complaint filed Oct. 16, Tridle is suing the town, Mentone Town Board, Mentone Housing Authority and the Office of Building Commissioner and Code Enforcement.
On Sept. 8 the defendants issued an order for the demolition of the building at 408 W. Monroe St., owned by Tridle.
The lawsuit states the town adopted the Unsafe Building Law as an ordinance July 10, 2006, but it was never published. The town's building code was adopted April 3, 2006. It also was never published, the suit claims.
The Mentone Town Board purportedly acts as the Housing Authority, according to the lawsuit, but the petitioner could not find no reference in any ordinance designating the town board as such. The demolition order does not indicate it was issued by the Housing Authority.
A hearing was scheduled for March 2 to consider the town's declaration of the building as an unsafe building. The lawsuit states the notice of hearing sets forth no findings of fact.
The March 2 hearing was tabled for more than 30 days to April 6. Under Indiana Code, the maximum days allowed are 14, according to the lawsuit. The April 6 hearing then was continued to May 4.
At the May 4 hearing, the town granted Tridle additional time to complete certain work "without any findings as to why the condition of the building was unsafe and without memorializing the additional time granted in a written and signed agreement between the town and petitioner," the lawsuit claims.
Also at the May 4 hearing, contractor Steve Hunsberger testified before the town board that the property was not unsafe. In response, the lawsuit contends, the town board presented no expert testimony to controvert but merely stated the building was unsafe.
During the Aug. 3 town board meeting, Tridle was not allowed to present evidence, according to the lawsuit. Tridle was "admonished at that hearing to sit down and that he would not be heard. No hearing was conducted or evidence allowed to be presented at the town board meeting on Sept. 8, 2009, the date the order was issued," the lawsuit contends.
The lawsuit also states no representatives of the town have been in the building to see improvements for more than a year, and the "only allegations about the condition of the building are at best cosmetic or purported claims for building code violations."
The building is more than 50 years old. The lawsuit states an application for a permit was filed and issued. Work was being performed prior to the March 2 notice of hearing to enhance the interior and exterior appearance of the building in order to prepare it to be sold or rented.
According to the lawsuit, from March 2 to July 21, work crews on more than one occasion were removed by Town Marshal Jim Eads and Building Commissioner Marvin Wickens from the building. A stop work order was issued July 21, requiring work to cease until Aug. 22.
Other statements in the lawsuit include that a significant amount of work was completed prior to July 21; none of the town's written allegations regarding the building assert any of the conditions that are defined as an unsafe building under Indiana Code; and the town has imposed upon the building a higher and stricter standard of maintenance and condition than imposed on other nearby properties.
The lawsuit also states "one or more members of the town board who voted in favor of the demolition order voted in furtherance of their personal interests unrelated to legitimate interests or governance of the town."
The lawsuit concludes that Tridle "respectfully requests that town's order be found and declared to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, in excess of statutory authority or not supported by the evidence, that the order be rescinded and vacated, and for all other appropriate relief in the premises."
Beeson responded to the lawsuit by stating, "How long have we been asking him to do this? He was advised several years ago to do something, and all we got were promises. Any building can be repaired, but the question is when it will be repaired."
Tridle's attorney in the case is Theodore L. Nicholas, Indianapolis.
