Published: August 21, 2008 10:01 am         

Carter case back on docket

Lebanon — Years after a businessman sued Boone County over the widening of Zionsville Road, the lawsuit remains unresolved.

But perhaps not for much longer.

Robert Carter, Zionsville resident and owner of Carter Van Lines, A-1 Storage and Carter Toy Museum, sued the county in March 2002, saying the expansion of Zionsville Road at 96th Street unfairly took about 6,400 square feet of his property.

The widening project took place in 1992. The county’s engineering firm then was Beam Longest & Neff, according to Carter’s 2002 complaint.

In January 1997, the county admitted through BL&N that Carter had not received “just compensation.” BL&N suggested Carter choose an appraiser approved by the Indiana Department of Transportation to determine the property’s value.

Carter also contends the county removed a drainage ditch, leading to the compromise of a septic system, during the widening project.

The case “just kind of sat for years,” Boone County Attorney Eileen Sims said Monday, Aug. 11.

About six months ago, however, Carter hired attorney Michael Andreoli to prod the case along, which appeared on a court calendar for an Aug. 21 trial.

The commissioners met in emergency executive session Sunday, Aug. 10, to discuss litigation strategy, Sims said.

“We had our executive session because if we could agree to terms, we were going to agree to take this court case off and trade information about damages,” Sims said.

She said the county is waiting for Andreoli to submit an appraisal.

Andreoli said Monday, “I think it’s going to boil down to just what the dollar amounts are.”

     

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