|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
September 19, 2003Property owner agrees to meetingSheriff: There will be hoops to jump throughByRecord-Eagle staff writer HORTON BAY- A potential armed standoff turned into a stand-down in the early morning hours on Camp Daggett Road in Bay Township. Property owner Lyle Barkley met at dawn Thursday in the driveway of his fortified home and agreed with Charlevoix County Sheriff George T. Lasater to meet again next week in an effort to resolve an ongoing dispute over an order to remove three manufactured homes from his land.
Barkley has said he would meet with armed force any attempts to enforce a district court ruling that he remove by Sept. 18 two, 12-by-60 foot trailers and a 24-by-34-foot former school portable. Judge Richard May this year sided with township officials who maintained the buildings were not properly permitted, and violate local zoning and construction codes. Barkley said he had the support of several militia groups, some of whom vowed to defend Barkley and his property by force of arms if Barkley were attacked. Norman Olson, a senior advisor to the Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines, also attended Thursday's meeting. Lasater assured Barkley that he and his family do not face a threat from his department. "Nothing is going to happen at 12:01 a.m. tonight," he said. "No one is going to swoop in and remove these trailers. You will not be arrested. "Nothing is going to happen, as far as the sheriff's office is concerned, until we have this meeting, and see if there is any light at the end of the tunnel." Lasater told Barkley he likely will have to pay fines and make alterations to the structures on his property to resolve the situation. "You're going to have some hoops to jump through," he said. Barkley said he was willing to negotiate and resolve the matter peacefully. But he remained adamant that his manufactured homes will not be removed. "As long as I am here, the trailers are going to stay," he said. A resident who lives on nearby Boyne City-Charlevoix Road expressed relief that tensions appeared to have lessened. She asked that her name not be used. "We're certainly happy that maybe some kind of solution can come about," she said. "I think it's kind of ridiculous that that's gone on." On Wednesday, county circuit Judge Richard Pajtas agreed to hear an appeal of the district court's ruling, filed by the Barkleys. He also agreed to waive a requirement for a $7,800 appeal bond, which Barkley said he could not pay. An opportunity exists for the community and militia members to help the Barkleys and resolve the conflict, Olson said. "We want to find out what the minimal code requirements are (for upgrading the structures), dull the edge and diffuse the potentially explosive situation we find ourselves in," he said.
|
|
