City of Jasper files to expedite court action

The City of Jasper has been unable to move forward with the plan to lease the Jasper Power Plant to Twisted Oak Corporation due to a lawsuit filed by Healthy Dubois County and its principals, including Dr. Norma Kreilein. They filed a lawsuit on August 5th seeking an injunction to block the implementation of the ordinance and lease agreement with Jasper Clean Energy, LLC.

On Tuesday the city filed another motion with the court to expedite the hearing on the matter in Dubois Circuit Court. The filing states “the City Defendants seek an expedited determination of Plaintiff’s claims to bring certainty to the underlying project.” With this filing, the City is asking special Judge, the honorable Judy Goffinet from Perry County, to move the case along and bring it to a conclusion.

The City of Jasper had previously filed a motion for expedited hearing on August 29th, but then Judge William Weikert recused himself from hearing arguments in the case. Weikert submitted a list of three special judges for the two parties in the case to choose. Each struck a name from the list and the remaining judge, Hon. Goffinet, was chosen.

The City of Jasper also stated that they have no objection with the hearing being held in Perry County, which “likely will aid the Court in advancing the matter on the calendar.” Jasper Officials were hoping that the hearing could have taken place in September and that the courts would find the lawsuit by the plaintiffs baseless, thereby allowing the lease to be executed in a timely manner.