Bob Pfister: Not on my land

This isn’t going to end up with you handcuffed and on the ground or anything like that, Chief Deputy Jesus Monarrez told Bob Pfister Friday morning.

Bob had refused Mid-States Corridor surveyors access to his property. He knew they were coming Friday since they had called on Wednesday to say they would be there.

Lochmueller and INDOT are moving forward with the Tier 2 survey work after the injunction filed in Dubois County Circuit Court was recently approved.

The Pfister land is located near Whoderville at the end of Trainer Lane off of State Highway 164. Bob and his wife, Kathy, who both have family ties to the land, have been slowly piecing together the nearly 58 acres over 26 years. “I bought the first piece in ’99,” Bob explained. “That was 11 acres, then we got six acres, then we got 40 acres.”

Last year, Purdue and the state designated the acreage as a certified tree farm.

For Bob, the area represents a heritage of family and soil. “It’s the essence and beauty of nature. It’s your soul,” he said.

He and Kathy’s family have ties to the land and its surrounding properties. Before Bob bought it, the property was in the hands of a cousin, who Bob thinks planted hardwood trees in the corn fields to form the forest it is now.

“To think my grandmas, my great-grandmas played in this valley.”

On maps posted on the Mid-States Corridor website, a portion of Bob and Kathy’s property falls within the 2,000-foot proposed path of the highway that cuts around to the east of Huntingburg and Jasper before reconnecting near Haysville. Survey crews are working to determine the placement of the 200-foot-wide corridor within that 2,000-foot-wide path. The final path of the road could cut up to a 10-acre corner out of Bob’s property. It also seems it will block the current access road to the property.

On top of not knowing how he will get to the property, Bob says the highway will ruin the beauty of the forest he’s been cultivating from corn fields since that first purchase.

Around 9 a.m., two vehicles pulled down the rock road to the entrance of Pfister’s tract of hardwood forest, which covers hills and is dotted with open meadows and a pond on top of one of the hills.

Bob, his close friend Angel Dubon, and Huntingburg farmer Dave Ring wait expectantly as the survey crew bustles around in their SUV, putting on safety vests and gathering gear.

It takes a few minutes. At one point, Bob looks at me and says, “I don’t think it’s my responsibility to approach them. They should come to me.”

As he turns to walk back to his nearby truck, he looks back and says, “I really don’t like this.”

He’s talking about the confrontation that is about to occur. Bob says he is a pretty joyous guy and doesn’t have an issue with the people doing the work.

He waits until one vested surveyor walks up the gravel road, apparently beginning the work. Bob calls out, and another Lochmueller Group crewmember at the truck walks over to him as the one going up the road stops walking and turns to watch.

Bob tells them that he didn’t receive proper notice. He has a paper that states Lochmueller has to give five days’ advance notice before coming onto the property. He says he was notified by phone on Wednesday.

Bob tells the surveyors multiple times that they are safe; he’s just not going to let them do their work on his property. After a few moments, the crew leaves, and Bob decides to call the sheriff’s department.

Bob tells them what occurred and why he didn’t allow them on the property. He hangs up, expecting a visit but not really sure what will happen after that.

About 45 minutes later, Dubois County Chief Deputy Jesus Monarrez pulls down the gravel road.

Monarrez explains that it isn’t like in the old days when people were arrested and wrestled from their properties. “This is a legal dispute that will be handled in court,” he tells Bob.

He explains that he’s there simply as a mediator between the two parties.

But he tells Bob that the order effectively gives Lochmueller the right to go on the property now.

Bob says he’s not going to allow them to do so.

Monarrez tells him that he can do that, but Lochmueller and INDOT will likely go back to the judge to show that he is in contempt of the court order. He will likely be cited back to court.

Bob looks down. “Well that makes me sad,” he says before looking back up at Monarrez. “I don’t have any contempt in my heart for the judge.”

“It’s just the term used for this situation,” Monarrez explains.

“I know,” Bob affirms. “I’m not letting them on my land.”