Marshall County Council files lawsuit against County Commission

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind. -- Marshall county is at odds after a lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the Marshall County Council against the County Commission over a proposed solar energy farm.

In September, Marshall County Commissioners voted 2 to 1 in favor of the decommissioning plan that would allow a new solar project to be built in the county by Tamarack Solar Energy, but the lawsuit claims a commissioner who voted on the agreement, Kevin Overmyer, had a conflict of interest.

According to Marshall County Council President and District 3 commissioner elect, Jessie Bohannon, the council claims Swift Energy Storage, a battery energy storage company, is planning to build a power storage facility on Commissioner Overmyer’s land, which is right next door to the proposed solar farm.

The council claims Overmyer should have excused himself from the vote due to his financial interest, and now they want a judge to determine whether or not there is a conflict of interest.

“It's a very serious thing when you have to take another government agency to court, but there were hundreds of people who've complained about this. Commissioner Overmyer had multiple chances to recuse himself, and he's continued to insist on participating in this process. So, we're just going to have to do the only option that we have left, which is to take it to court,” explained Bohannon in a Thursday evening interview.

On Thursday, the Marshall County Board of Zoning Appeals held a special meeting at Plymouth High School about the solar plan. The Tamarack Solar project asked for a variance from the council to be able to physically put in the solar panels.

The board was supposed to approve, deny or table the request, but after a few dozen members of the public spoke, both for and against the solar project, the meeting ran out of time.

There were still people waiting to speak when the meeting wrapped up, and the council did not have time to make a final vote. So, the meeting will be rescheduled, possibly in December, to make that decision.