The court case over a proposed barge fleeting operation east of Seneca isn’t heading to appellate court yet, but the lawyers appear to be setting things up for that. Each side plans to ask Grundy County Judge Sheldon Sobol to reconsider a ruling that gave each a partial defeat earlier this month.
Assistant Attorney General Maggie Jones wants the judge to find that it’s not up the General Assembly to say whether the business can go where Illinois and Michigan Oil plans to put it. The judge says the Illinois Department of Natural Resources lacks permitting authority in the matter.
And lawyer Jack Foley wants the judge to find that his clients, property owners Rick and Gloria Sims, have standing to sue after all. The judge says they don’t, even though they own land across the Illinois River from the site that could have up to 106 barges.
The judge says he’s sure about his rulings. But even so, lawyers can’t appeal to a higher court until they ask the judge to reconsider. Jones and Foley say they’ll file the papers for that by December 1. The next case update will be on December 10th.