Regional Sewer District authorizes legal counsel to defend McFadden in County Commissioner's lawsuit

Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 1:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

Since the Marshall County Regional Sewer District special meeting Wednesday morning was not live-streamed and or recorded, their attorney, Christopher Nusbaum provided local media with some information.

The short agenda only included the roll call, a discussion on the Board of Commissioners of Marshall County v. Thomas McFadden lawsuit, and public comment.

During the meeting, board member Dean Colvin made a motion stating, “I move that the Marshall County Regional Sewer District authorize legal counsel to proceed with the defense of the matter captioned The Board of Commissioners of the County of Marshall v. Thomas McFadden, Cause No. 20D02-2507-CE-000005, including the assertion of counterclaims and any related or ancillary claims, through conclusion or resolution, consistent with the litigation strategy presented and discussed in executive session.

This authorization is made pursuant to the district’s obligations under its bylaws, including its duty to indemnify, and further authorizes counsel to pursue all applicable claims under any relevant insurance policies in connection with this matter.”

Board member, Jay Stone, seconded the motion, and following a discussion, all trustees, Colvin, Stone, Brenda Meyers, Diann Parsons, Don Ecker, and Christopher Spier voted in favor except board member Thomas McFadden, who abstained.

In response to this authorization, the attorney told local media that a motion to dismiss with accompanying Memorandum in Support was filed along with other filings, which are case administrative in nature—all of which are publicly available here.

A letter was delivered to counsel for the County Commissioners and said, “The Marshall County Regional Sewer District (“District”) is in receipt of your July 21, 2025, Notice of Appointment, which states that Bill Woodward has been appointed to the District’s Board of Trustees. Please note that the District does not recognize this appointment to be valid. There is no vacancy on the District’s Board of Trustees. To reiterate-Commissioners lack authority to remove any appointed Trustee without cause.

At this time, the District will continue its ordinary course of business, and Mr. Woodward is welcome to attend any of the District’s public meetings in his capacity as a citizen of Marshall County.” The letter was signed by Regional Sewer District Vice President Jay Stone.