City of Jasper faces a complaint from the Office of Public Access in regards to biomass vote meeting

This story has been changed since first published to reflect that the downtown Jasper square was blocked from traffic due to Strassenfest.

The Office of the Public Access Counselor has notified the City of Jasper of a formal complaint filed by Michelle Reller of Huntingburg in regards to the joint meeting held on August 5, 2011 to vote on the proposed lease of the Jasper Power plant to Twisted Oak.

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According to the complaint filed on September 1, Reller was unable to access designated handicapped parking spaces adjacent to the city hall to attend the public meeting. The designated spots in front of city hall were occupied by the stage and stage equipment for Strassenfest and the square was blocked off for the annual festival.

Reller then drove to the parking lot behind city hall but found it was still occupied by city employees’ vehicles. Eventually Reller parked in Becher Kluesner Funeral Home parking lot and then attended the meeting.

Reller stated in the complaint she has pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension is abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. This causes her to have trouble breathing when she “walks any distance” (sic).

Reller based her complaint on Indiana Code 5-14-1.5-8, which addresses holding meetings in facilities that are not accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Joe Hoague, Public Access Counselor for the state, said the city has 20 days to respond to the formal complaint and then he will make a decision on whether the city was in violation of the code.

“We are not an enforcement agency,” He explained. “We just make decisions on whether or not there was a violation by the city.”

Hoague explained the advantage to filing the complaint through his office is that Reller now has the ability to have the city pay for her legal fees in a subsequent lawsuit regarding the violation if a judge rules in her favor.

Hoague also stated that of the 350 complaints filed with the office last year only 87 were found in violation of Indiana’s Open Door Law or Access to Public Records Act.

Added after article was published:

Bill Kaiser, Special Counsel for the City of Jasper, stated that the city was in fact within compliance of all accessibility laws in regards to parking and access to City Hall. “We can’t guarantee parking for everyone, but the proper parking was available for (Ms.) Reller.”

Jim O’neal, WITZ News Director contributed to this report.