Posted: 5/18/05
Judge has 90 days to rule on CCC track suit
Joe Drennan
Staff Writer
A 5-3 vote back in late January approved plans by the North Metro Harness Initiative for a harness racking track with a 24/7 card room and restaurant in Columbus Township just north of Gander Mountain. Driving by the site not much has happened ó thatís because the Columbus Concerned Citizens have a lawsuit against the MRC over the way they handled the NMHI case.
The CCC claims that the MRC violated open meeting laws when two commission members conversed about the case via phone. There is a second lawsuit by the CCC challenging the ultimate decision of the MRC. One lawsuit is in the Ramsey County District Court and the other is in the court of appeals.
ěThe two lawsuits are kind of parallel, itís just that one is in the court of appeals while the other is in district court,î CCC representative Don Steinke said
MRC chair Darcy Hitesman stated in the past that following the Roberts Rules the commission had the right to rescind their denial of licenses to NMHI as long as it was done at the very next meeting and the motion was made by a member of the prevailing vote.
The suit in the Ramsey County District Court had a hearing last Wednesday where Judge M. Michael Monahan heard arguments from the attorney generalís office who is representing the MRC regarding the open meeting rules violation.
Deputy attorney general Kenneth Raschke Jr. compared the lawsuit against the MRC to a fishing expedition in that the CCC are simply searching for a reason to block the harness racing track from being built.
ěLuckily the judge did not agree with the attorney general,î Steinke said.
Judge Monahan has 90 days from the hearing to come up with a decision.
There has been no date set for a hearing regarding the lawsuit in the court of appeals.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605