The Indiana Publisher

Sarah Loesch Evansville Courier & Press EVANSVILLE — Commissioners repealed Vanderburgh County's sign ordi- nance Feb. 8, following a judge's recent decision that similar city of Evansville rules violated the First Amendment. County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave suggested the change last month as a result of a lawsuit brought against Evansville by GEFT Outdoor LLC, an outdoor advertising company. The com- pany sued the city in 2019 after it was denied a variance to install a digital billboard near Oak Grove Road. In December, a federal judge ruled in GEFT's favor. "The sign standards are an unconstitutional content-based restriction on speech," Judge James R. Sweeney wrote in his rul- ing. "The sign standards permitting process and the variance process as applied to signs lack any proce- dural safeguards or adequate stan- dards to guide the city's decisions and are an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech." Evansville has appealed the ruling. David Jones, attorney for the commissioners, said the primary legal issues have to do with the government determining the con- tent of signs. Jones said the same issue is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court in a Texas case. A ruling is expected this summer. County commissioners chose to repeal the Vanderburgh ordinance rather than risk litigation. The repeal ordinance now moves to the Area Plan Commission for a hearing, accord- ing to attorney Craig Emig. The commissioners also passed a reso- lution stating that the Area Plan Commission shouldn't enforce the existing rules until the matter is settled in court. Carole Carlson Post-Tribune (Merrillville) Porter County's Board of Commissioners "likely" violated the Indiana Open Door Law for failing to hold public meetings as they hashed out spending for about $16.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding last year. That opinion came from Luke Britt, Indiana Public Access Counselor who responded to a Dec. 20 complaint filed by Susie Talevski, a Porter County resi- dent and an attorney. She complained two commis- sioners, Laura Blaney, D-South, and Jeff Good, R-Center, met pri- vately in October with a couple of members of the county council to map out a funding strat- egy. Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North, wasn't present. "The group making deter- minations on the ARP funding also should have held meetings publicly as it appeared to be an official decision-making body of the county," Britt wrote in his opinion. Biggs cast the lone vote against the plan last year, calling it a "fait accompli" done without public input. He said the action disenfranchised county residents who weren't given a say in how the money should be spent. A public outcry followed with some residents complaining about the $5.5 million for renovations to the county-owned Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso. Blaney defended her record of transparency and said the Opera House renovations would be removed from the plan. "If I had thought meeting with two of seven councilmen (one from each party) or directing our county attorney to write an ordi- nance to be considered at a public meeting was a violation of even the spirit of the open door law, it would not have happened," Blaney said in a statement. Talevski said the county should scrap its initial spending plan. "It is clear that Commissioners Laura Blaney and Jeff Good violated the Open Door Law, and thereby, breached the public trust," she said. "Based on the findings in his advisory opinion, I call on every single member of the Porter County Council to reject the entirety of the ARPA funds appropriations ordinance." The commissioners submit- ted a revised plan to the county council, which approves appro- priations. The council could vote on the spending plan at its 5:30 p.m. meeting Feb. 22. It includes $4 mil- lion for stormwater projects along Stimson Ditch and the Shorewood subdivision drainage system; $25,000 for a mental health study; $785,000 for court and jail improvements; $2.5 million for completion of the Marquette Trail; $150,000 for upgrades at the Indiana Dunes Welcome Center. Also, $500,000 to townships for assistance to residents or small businesses and nonprofits impacted by the pandemic; $1 million to the Porter County Redevelopment Commission to assist small businesses and $1.2 million for eligible county work- ers who would receive $4,000 in premium pay. The county commissioners are expected work on a spend- ing plan for the second ARP fund distribution of $16.5 mil- lion soon. The county's website includes a page detailing the projects and accepts public input. PAC finds public left out of Porter County $16.5 million American Rescue Plan Act spending scenario Officials repeal sign law after free-speech violation in Evansville A man walks along Indiana Avenue, in front of the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso Friday July 17, 2020. A plan to use $5.5 million in ARPA funds was given an unfavorable opinion by the state's public access counselor. Staff photo by Andy Lavalley/Post-Tribune Page 10 February 2022

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