New Buffalo City Council oppose passage of State-House short-term rental bill

Brakes placed on defamation cases against former mayor

BY STAN MADDUX

Defamation of character lawsuits against the former mayor of Michigan City are no longer being pursued - at least for now. bankruptcy filing until recently when notified by his attorney, Guy DeMartino, in the defamation case. The lawsuits are in response to Meer publicly alleging Lake targeted his obtained with his alleged drug proceeds, The cases were filed last month on behalf of LaPorte County Prosecutor John Lake and his wife, Mary, who is a deputy prosecutor for her husband. A stay of the proceedings was filed Nov. 9 in LaPorte Superior Court 3 and dismissal of the case was filed Nov. 2 in Starke County Circuit Court. The action on behalf of the plaintiffs was taken to get back into compliance with the law governing bankruptcy proceedings at the request of the former mayor’s attorney, Daniel Freeland. Freeland on April 7 filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in U.S. District Court in South Bend on behalf of Ron Meer. Freeland said a bankruptcy filing under federal law comes with an automatic stay prohibiting legal action being filed against individuals seeking protection from creditors until a final decision is made in their bankruptcy cases. If the prosecutor was taken to court, Freeland said violation of a stay could result in damages and even punitive damages for Meer if a judge ruled the filing of a lawsuit was done to harm him. Lake, in the third year of his first term as prosecutor, said the stay was violated by accident.The FBI complaint also alleges Eudave Lake said he and his wife were never served with any notice of a bankruptcy filing since they were not listed as creditors in Meer’s bankruptcy petition. “We had no knowledge of the bankruptcy,” said Lake. Lake said he didn’t learn of the stepson, Adam Bray, for arrest to hurt his chances of being reelected. The arrest on gun and drug related charges occurred a month before the November 2019 election, which Meer lost by 76 votes to current mayor Duane Parry. Meer was later charged with six felony counts of intimidation and misconduct along with two misdemeanor counts of false informing for his alleged behavior following his stepson’s arrest. The felony cases were later dismissed.

The misdemeanor cases were scheduled for dismissal in February until Meer was charged in December 2020 with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and resisting law enforcement.

After the accident, Meer allegedly drove home, where he ignored a police officer’s request to discuss the motor vehicle accident, police said.

Meer alleged the lawsuits were filed as a way for Lake to continue harassing and intimidating him.

Freeland would not speculate on motive.

“I have no opinion on that. I don’t know why they were filed,” he said.

Lake said he doesn’t know if he’ll move forward again on the defamation cases.

He said the decision will depend on whether seeking damages in the case is allowed under the judge’s bankruptcy protection order.

New Buffalo City Council opposes passage of State-House short-term rental bill

BY THERESE DONNELLY

In a 4-0 vote, the New Buffalo City Council passed a short-term rental resolution at its Monday, Nov. 15, meeting, reiterating their objections to recent state licensed drone pilot, has previously used his personal drone equipment for department work. The new drone will be issued to Voytovick for use and maintenance. legislation regarding short-term rentals.

On Oct. 27, the Michigan House of Representatives passed House Bill 4722, setting the definition of short-term rentals as rental terms not to exceed 30 consecutive days, and classifying short-term rentals as a residential use- meaning conditions cannot differ from other residences in the same zone. In their resolution, the council stated its belief that HB 4722 will be detrimental to residents and take away local control.

The resolution will ask state Sen. Kim LaSata (R-St. Joseph) and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to oppose the bill or any similar legislation.

During the meeting the council also approved a contract to Anlaan Corporation in the amount of $52,000 for demolition work on the Dune Walk, part of Phase I of the Dune Walk restoration project. In their bid, Anlann stated work will be complete by Dec. 17, 2021. Project engineers at Abonmarche recommended the company out of the four contractors who submitted bids.

The police department received the ok for two purchases. The first was for a drone from Steel City Drones costing $6969. City manager Darwin Watson explained the drone will enable police to survey flood damage, look for missing swimmers, monitor traffic conditions and survey crowds.

Officer Nate Voytovick, who is a Police chief Rich Killips told the council that the new drone will include thermal imaging and will be public safety graded, meaning the equipment will be operational during emergencies and natural disasters. A second purchase, for a new police vehicle, also received council approval. In a summary to the council, Watson explained a patrol vehicle was damaged when an officer responding to an emergency medical call hit a curb, damaging the underside. The city’s insurance company is expected to declare the vehicle totaled. Insurance money is expected to cover the cost of the replacement, but no amount has been determined yet.

Abonmarche Engineering was awarded an agreement to provide engineering professional services for dredging in the harbor. Lake levels have dropped significantly since they reached record high levels in 2019 and the new changes have caused sand deposits that could potentially interfere with watercraft.

Under the agreement, Abonmarche will work in three phases- data collection, preliminary engineering and permitting, and finally an initial dredge construction project.