J. Lake pair file motion to revive village idea

Post date: Apr 16, 2009 8:12:57 PM

By HARRY G. PERKINS, Hub Regional Correspondent, 04/16/2009, Kearney HUB on line at: http://www.kearneyhub.com

JOHNSON LAKE — The Johnson Lake village case is back in court.

Attorneys Robert Huck and David Skalka, who represented the Dawson County Board of Commissioners and the Johnson Lake Sewer Improvement District, have received notice that the Nebraska Supreme Court has been asked to review its recent decision denying village status at the lake.

Attorneys Terry and Josh Barber of Lincoln filed a motion on behalf of Glenn and Teresa Lanman of Johnson Lake for a rehearing by the high court of its April 3 decision.

The court ruled that state law prohibits formation of a village where a municipal body already exists and said the sanitary improvement district formed in 2003 constitutes a municipal body.

The latest motion is a memorandum brief that says there was error in the court’s recent decision. The specific error or errors will be revealed in subsequent filings.

The Dawson County commissioners denied a petition to incorporate some of the residences at the lake because the lake was already incorporated as a sanitary improvement district.

The Lanmans appealed that decision to Dawson County District Court.

District Judge Donald Rowlands ruled Oct. 26, 2007, that the commissioners acted properly; the Lanmans appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court.

By nearly a 2-1 margin, property owners chose a sanitary improvement district rather than a village to build and administer the lake’s sewer system in 2002.

The SID was officially established in February 2005 after a legal fight by about 100 property owners that delayed the start of construction. The decision to incorporate the SID was appealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed creation of the district.

About 20 lot holders requested relief from being connected to the sewer system in November 2007, but their petition was denied in February 2008, and all were connected

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