By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH COUNTY – A stop work order was issued last week to officials of the Wabash River Trail, Wabash County Plan Commissioner Mike Howard told The Paper of Wabash County on Tuesday.
The order, issued on March 20, is because the group worked on a boat ramp near the bridge on State Road 524 without having received proper permitting, Howard said.
River Trail officials filed the permit requests with the DNR; however, official approval has not yet been received for the work.
“It was their only violation,” Howard said. “We discussed it with the DNR and determined this was the best course of action.”
The stop work order means that any work pertaining to the flood plain area cannot be done until the stop work order is lifted, he said.
The group has filed permits with the county to create restroom facilities and a pavilion in downtown Lagro, Howard said. Because those are not near the flood plain, those projects are not affected by the stop work order.
He said the order can be lifted once the DNR gives a final ruling on the permit. That could come in two or three weeks, he said.
DNR spokesman Phil Bloom told The Paper that the “permit review process is ongoing” and did not give an idea as to how long the review may take.
In the meantime, the group could face fines for working on the site without the permits. Fines would be up to the DNR on a state level and from the Wabash County Commissioners and Wabash County Plan Commission locally, Howard said.
Bloom didn’t answer a question about possible penalties for the group.
Wabash River Trail president Amy Ford and attorney Mark Frantz were asked to comment on the matter. Both referred questions about the trail to trail developer, Dawn Kroh, at Green 3, Indianapolis.
Kroh has yet to reply to an email sent to her.
Glenn Butcher, who is heads a group of landowners opposed to the trail, called the decision “a big victory.”