July 16--JEFFERSONVILLE -- While many of the issues surrounding a piece of property near the Clark Regional Airport remain unresolved, how the property will be paid for, if necessary, is becoming clearer.

John W. Mead, attorney for Sellersburg resident Margaret Dreyer, filed a mandate action in Clark County Circuit Court No. 2 last week as a possible way for the county to pay the more than $840,000 owed to Dryer for her property.

The land is being sought for a runway expansion project at the airport, which is being paid for largely by an $11 million Federal Aviation Administration grant. The air board purchased a series of tracts of land from Dreyer, but the value of 72 acres along Bean Road was disputed due to a large disparity in the appraised values offered for the land.

Two rulings have gone against the county in the matter, including a decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals in December. Then commissioners filed another suit claiming that an exception to the value initially offered to Dreyer for her land was not filed within an appropriate time frame by her attorney, but again the ruling went against the county as it was noted it was too late for the county to file its action.

The county filed an appeal on that ruling June 28, according to Clark County Court records, but Clark County Commissioners Attorney Greg Fifer said the two sides are still trying to negotiate a settlement. But Mead made it clear Tuesday he wants his client to be paid what she is owed.

"It's the next step that I'm taking to get the county to pay Mrs. Dreyer," Mead said, referring to the mandate action he filed.

He said by filing the mandate action the court could force the county to institute a special tax outside the property tax caps -- similar to the mandates issued by the Clark County Courts and the Clark County Sheriff's Department last year. The mandate would be subject to approval by Indiana's Department of Local Government Finance.

The alternative to a mandate would be for the county to issue a bond in order to pay back Dreyer, which Mead said he believed would be the more expedient option.

Time is becoming a factor in the dispute because if the county does not pay for Dreyer's property within a year from the date the court of appeals' decision was reached -- Dec. 14, 2011 -- the interest in the property is forfeited back to the owner, along with the $203,605 already paid.

Fifer added that the Board of Aviation Commissioners and the county is seeking additional grant dollars from the Federal Aviation Administration to pay back the mandate or the bond.

In addition, the county is continuing to pursue a malpractice suit it filed against Clark County Board of Aviation Commissioners Attorney Jack Vissing over the handling of the property acquisition. That suit remains unresolved.

Copyright 2012 - The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.