Posted on May 28, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
Concerns surrounding a recent code enforcement effort in the Town of North Judson were brought to the attention of council members at their second meeting of the month.
On Sunday, May 5th a number of untagged vehicles were removed from Mike’s Repair located on the corner of SR 10 & SR 39. The owner’s son addressed the council when members met last Monday.
He introduced himself, “I’m Kenneth Blough, active duty military right now, mobilized away from home. I store vehicles at my dad’s current shop. I do not register them in the current year, they’re not running, they’re being worked on.”
Blough explained that his vehicles were unjustly removed from his father’s property during the code enforcement effort conducted earlier in the month.
He told members, “This is a town ordinance that I’ve looked into that covers that but also there’s a state Indiana Code that covers abandoned vehicles, salvaged vehicles and everything like that when being stored for military members.”
Blough cited the legislation, (IC-9-22-1-1), stating that the chapter does not apply to vehicles stored as the property of members of the armed forces who are in active duty.
Marshal Kelly Fisher noted that he was contacted over a year and a half ago about his cars. She said that conversations were held in the past where they had apparently reached an agreement with Blough to have the vehicles taken care of.
Kenneth stated that his JAG Office had spoken with the town police in the past, reportedly citing a federal exemption that applied to Blough’s case.
He added that he has worked to address their concerns, noting that he used to have five cars stored at the property and he has cut that down to three.
Blough added that his father has also been making efforts to address the issues at his property.
He explained that a request to install a privacy fence to hide some of the parts that accumulate was submitted last year but it was denied.
He also shared that he felt it was unfair his father was facing a $50 fine for a not complying with a trash violation after he paid to have a company come in and clean the lot.
Another individual whose car was towed claimed that the car had up-to-date registration and everything else was in order but there was a mix up with the license plate.
They were each seeking financial reimbursement for fees they incurred from the towing and storage of their vehicles. Blough added that the $50 fine should not be assessed since they were showing progress by hiring a company to clean up the refuse.
While addressing an additional concern with the recent code enforcement effort, Kenneth told officials that he contacted the Indiana Department of Revenue and said he was informed that the towing company they utilized was not registered through the agency and therefore shouldn’t have been used by the town.
Fisher explained that Indiana State Police were consulted about the towing company and they confirmed they were a viable option.
Kenneth Blough also presented the council with information indicating that they didn’t give the required 72 hour notice.
Ordinance Officer Kerry Rust mentioned that he had been at the business on Sunday, April 21st to discuss a vehicle that was parked on the sidewalk. Rust said at that time he spoke with the owner about the other violations at the lot.
Rust explained, “I also told him that there were a lot of vehicles in there with no tags. Mike asked me if I would work with him and I said, would two weeks be fine, is that enough time and he said yes. I said if we don’t get cars tagged and everything they will be towed. That’s two weeks notice”
Mike recalled the meeting differently, claiming, “You didn’t say that. Your last words to me were ‘You don’t want me to come back.’”
Kenneth Blough said that even if a verbal warning was given in advance, authorities should have tagged the cars indicating they were unregistered, contacted the owners and given them at least 3 days to address the violation.
Blough then asked why his father was ticketed for the untagged cars instead of the registered owners. Councilwoman Wendy Hoppe mentioned that the owner of establishment is responsible for what is on their property.
She also commented that this is not the first time that the property has been addressed.
Hoppe stated, “We have people who come through this town for the love of our restaurants, our businesses and to get to their lake properties.”
She added, “The biggest problem we have right now is ‘Why do we have to look at this all the time.’ Can you not help us to benefit this town with the beautiful park we have across the street.’
Hoppe continued, “This isn’t something that happened just now, this isn’t something that happened last year, this isn’t even something that just happened five years ago. This has been an ongoing thing for quite some time.”
She proposed holding a meeting in the future to come up with a solution that would benefit the town’s enhancement efforts without interfering with Blough’s business.
Town Attorney Justin Schramm weighed in, noting that this should be viewed in two separate phases.
He said the council can address the code violations that were issued to the owner of the business, Mike Blough, separately from the requests for reimbursement that were submitted by his son and the other vehicle owner.
The full council was not in attendance at last Monday’s meeting so the present members opted to schedule a future special session to address the matter further.
Mike and Kenneth Blough both agreed to that arrangement. Kenneth noted that he was already using vacation days to attend this council meeting in person so he’ll have to take part over the phone.
Hoppe indicated that the ordinance violation fees would not be enforced for the time being. Officials added that the individual reimbursement requests will have to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
No official actions were taken during the meeting and a specific date for the special session was not determined. However, by law, this meeting will require posting and it will have to be open to the public.
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