Ag United News
Judge Gienapp denies motion to dismiss appeal by residents
February 15, 2006 Moody County Enterprise
BY CYNTHIA SHEPPARD
In a ruling by Judge David Gienapp of the Third Judicial Circuit Court on February 9th, Moody County’s motion to dismiss an appeal made by George Hoffman and other Moody County neighbors was denied. Hoffman and others had appealed the decision by the Moody County Board of Adjustment regarding its approval of a conditional use permit for Jopson Dairy, which is planned to be built just north of Lone Tree in Egan Township.
The group in Moody County appealed based on a conflict of interest by two members of the Board of Adjustment, who, the neighbors alleged, should not have been allowed to vote on that issue. The county made a motion to dismiss the appeal due to a timeline for filing. This has been denied by Judge Gienapp and a hearing on the appeal has been set for the courtroom of the Moody County Courthouse in Flandreau on April 7, 2006, at 1:30 p.m.
The residents’ appeal was based on one Board of Adjustment member, Bob Hemmer, whose relatives had a financial interest on selling the land to the dairy and the other Board of Adjustment member, Kenneth Doyle, who was related to a person who would supply water to the dairy. The group’s attorney, Jim Abourezk, alleged that these were risks of conflict of interest that should have prevented the Board members from voting on the issue.
When asked by this newspaper about the outcome of this hearing, Moody County’s attorney Bill Ellingson noted that if the judge finds a conflict of interest did exist, that could nullify the dairy permit. If a conflict of interest is not found, the permit would stand.
For more information, see: www.moodycountyenterprise.com/main.php?story_id=1266&page=23
