A year-long legal battle is still ongoing between two residents on St. Andrews Drive and Union Township over a delayed and incomplete response to a State of Michigan Freedom Of Information Act and an Open Meeting Acts request.
Isabella County residents Jeffery Wigand and Scott Gurski filed a civil lawsuit last year in the Isabella County Circuit Court after a FOIA response wasn’t fulfilled in the time stated in the law.
On April 26, there was a settlement meeting between Township Manager Stuhldreher, Union Township’s attorney Matthew Tarrent, Wigand and Gurski that was ordered by Circuit Court judge Paul Chamberlin. There was no resolution that came from that meeting, according to Gurski.
According to Wigand, a settlement letter from Union Township’s attorney Matthew Tarrent to the defendants that said Stuhldreher would be willing to meet with Wigand and Gurski regarding their request for information on the condition that the lawsuit would be settled. Wigand and Gurski are both representing themselves together in the lawsuit.
Wigand said he does not plan to settle.
“If they think I am going to back down, they are sorely mistaken,” Wigand said.
The requests through FOIA and the OMA for documents was filed March 23, 2017 by Wigand because he wants all information surrounding a written determination of whether St. Andrews Drive is considered a county road or a private road. He also wants all communications with those who live next door to him because he believes they may be in violation of the single-family dwelling ordinance.
The FOIA request, filed on March 23, 2017, asked for minutes and notes from the township’s board of review meeting on March 13, 2017, as well as a list of Union Township officials at the meeting.
The reasoning for the FOIA, according to Wigand and Gurski, is to show that there needs to be improvement in the way the township records their meetings through minutes and recordings of the meetings, as well as the response to tax questions that were considered “simple” by both Gurski and Wigand.
The board of review, which makes judgements on upholding appeals and tax values of properties, is made up of three residents appointed by the Union Township Board of Trustees.
“The three of them make judgment on upholding appeals and tax values,” said Ben Gunning, Union Township Supervisor and Board of Review Secretary.
In addition, information was also requested on the value of the properties of the plaintiffs - Wigand and Gurski - and to clarify a single-family dwelling ordinance.
Wigand said his neighbors’ home is a single-family dwelling but he believes there are three families living in the home. He also said that his neighbors have been a general nuisance because they tend to have loud parties, do not maintain their lawn and have had multiple visits from police.
A portion of the ordinance for the responsibilities of property owners states “An owner or agent shall not allow a dwelling unit to be occupied by more persons than such dwelling unit is licensed for or allow any portion of the dwelling unit to be occupied in such a manner that any of the provisions of this code are violated.”
Gunning, who is also the legal agent for the township, said the board of trustees weren’t fully informed by the manager of any litigation against the township until April of last year. As legal agent, he makes sure that the board is involved in any legal issues against the township.
Initially, there was no response to the FOIA request, with Union Township citing that there was no address for Wigand on the document. Wigand argued that the address was easily accessible due to being on a certified letter address postal card.
The complaint that contained an amended FOIA for the same information as the first request was sent out by Wigand to the township on April 14, 2017.
This request contained his address.
Union Township did not respond to the second request until 13 days after it sent out.
There is an initial five-day period in which a FOIA must receive a response. FOIA responses can be extended by 10 days if a notice is sent to the requester.
Union Township did not send a response stating that they would use 10 extra days to respond.
An information request can be denied if a written statement is given to the requester, which Union Township did not send.
The FOIA response that was sent to Wigand contained the notes and minutes requested, information regarding the formula for how property tax value is calculated, a statement saying that St. Andrews Drive was a county road, and communications sent to the homeowner in the complaint. What wasn’t in the FOIA was a response from the neighbor in question, OMA documents required by the state tax comission and the specific equivilent properties and domain/geographic boundaries that are used in determining tax value.
The FOIA request was signed by Union Township Tax Assessor Patricia DePriest. According to the Union Township website, Clerk Lisa Cody is responsible for the handling of FOIA requests.
On July 10, 2017, there was a request for summary depositions from Union Township for the FOIA and OMA matters filed in the circuit court. The summary disposition was filed because the township believes the FOIA response was complete and that there is no mechanism in the OMA that would allow for a request of notes and minutes to release them.
On Sep. 8, 2017, Chamberlin ruled in favor of Union Township on the OMA, and ruled that the FOIA response from Union Township to Wigand was incomplete.
Stuhldreher also had his name attached to the correspondences that involved the FOIA request. The responsibilities of the manager does not include anything pertaining to FOIA. The court warranted that the website should be updated to include identifying Stuhldreher as a FOIA Coordinator. The website does not currently claim any FOIA-related responsibility for the township manager.
Gurski said that there is a possibility that this case could go to the Michigan Supreme Court if there is a lack of a resolution.
A court date for a proceeding of the case has not yet been set.