2/7/18 – 5:35 A.M.

The legal saga stemming from the widening of Road 5 in Putnam County in 2012 shows no sign of slowing down in 2018. The Lima News reports the Putnam County Commissioners filed new cases against 13 Road 5 residents Tuesday.

Prosecutor Gary Lammers has filed a new application for appropriations against the defendants. The appropriations include offers for the land used in the project.

The county originally used eminent domain to take possession of the land for the widening of the road. The property owners say the commissioners didn’t have a right to use eminent domain because they didn’t vote unanimously to do so. A lawyer for the property owners tells the newspaper, “what they are doing is illegal.”

Attorney Lindie Webb says the commissioners are improperly applying a statute from the early 1900s to get around the need for a unanimous vote.

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