City Councilman Bruce Setterstrom sits on the witness stand during a preliminary injunction hearing Tuesday. (Garrett Estrada photo)
The ongoing legal battle between the Nevada Northern Railway’s management board and the Ely City Council headed into the courtroom on Tuesday. Chief Justice Robert Rose pesided over the proceedings, hearing argument from attorney’s on both sides of the management board’s lawsuit against the council and Railroad Board of Trustees.
The hearing, which proceeded into a second day Wednesday in the White Pine Courthouse, was held for the purpose of letting Rose decide on several different preliminary injunctions requested by the board in the lawsuit. The preliminary injunctions, which were unavailable as of this writing, will determine how both parties will be able to proceed until the lawsuit reaches a full trial. All five members of the Ely City Council as well as Mayor Melody Van Camp were called to the witness stand on Tuesday to testify on one of the injunctions, which was to determine if the council and board of trustees had violated the Nevada Open Meeting Law.
The judges decision came many hours after press time, so it will be covered in next week’s edition I am sure. In a nutshell, Justice Rose decided that the OML was NOT violated in starting the audit and that it WAS violated on the removal of two Railroad Management Board members. The audit can go forward, but the removals have to be put on the agenda again WITH PROPER NOTICE if the Council wants to remove the same or other members.
The Justice’s comment also served to calm the issue in a big way, reminding the parties (and the community) that the Trustees did, in fact, control the Railroad Management Board, but had to do so with compliance to the Open Meeting Law. And should do so with an eye to not “overfixing” the problem. Likewise, the Management Board was informed that they needed to be more forthcoming and remember that they may have been ignored by the Trustees for many years, but that “there is a new sheriff in town” to which they had to answer. And everyone was cautioned that the NNRY is a wonderful asset to Nevada and this community, and to “not kill the goose.”
I think everyone found fairness and good logic in the judge’s decision. If this goes to trial later, everyone knows what to expect. It was clear from all the testimony that everyone involved is sincerely interested in the healthy survival and growth of the railroad, so hopefully there will be more cooperation and communication in the future.