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Photo by E.L. Conley
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The fact that part of the Grosse Ile toll bridge is in the city of Riverview was a factor in the eminent domain lawsuit.
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For a fourth time, Grosse Ile Township's eminent domain lawsuit regarding the toll bridge at the island's north end has been shot down.
Now, an attorney representing the Grosse Ile Bridge Co., the toll bridge owner, said the township should be responsible for the legal fees acquired by his client in more than three years of legal battles.
"From the beginning to the end, the bridge company prevailed and is appreciative of the fairness of the judicial system," attorney Allen Ackerman said.
The Michigan Supreme Court said Tuesday that the township's motion for reconsideration of an Oct. 13, 2006, order has been denied because it does not appear that the order was entered erroneously.
Using the right of eminent domain — with the argument that the township needed to control entrance to and exit from the island for the safety of its nearly 11,000 residents — township officials had tried to take the toll bridge from the Grosse Ile Bridge Co.
In May 2004, Wayne County Circuit Judge Susan Borman rejected the lawsuit. The Michigan Court of Appeals then rejected the township's appeal.
The case continued, however, and the Michigan Supreme Court also rejected the township Board of Trustee's appeal in October 2006.
Now, the motion for reconsideration has been turned down.
"I am very pleased that the Supreme Court has finally put an end to the township board's completely unnecessary, highly counterproductive and very costly eminent domain litigation that has been dragging on for more than 3 1/2 years," toll bridge owner Paul Smoke said in a written statement.
Because of speculation regarding the township's costs during the lengthy litigation, township leaders recently informed residents that about $450,000 has been paid to the Butzel Long law firm, engineers and other firms asked to assist in research on the matter.
Township Supervisor Kurt Kobiljak said he believes it's good that over the last few months officials have resolved speculation about the legal fees.
However, the cost of those fees has been "borrowed" from the township's general fund. It was expected to be replaced if the township was successful in its eminent domain fight through profits from bridge tolls.
Also, that amount does not include the Grosse Ile Bridge Co.'s legal fees.
Ackerman said that a statute in the Michigan Compiled Laws says that the township should be required to pay the fees acquired by the company.
Ackerman said Wednesday that he did not immediately know how much that cost is.
"It's really going to be the court's determination," the attorney said. "But there was a huge amount of effort put into this. It's going to be not insubstantial."
Kobiljak and the attorney representing the township in this case, Carl Rashid Jr., have said that throughout the years, the township was forced to pursue the litigation because of decisions made by the judges.
"I'm not of the opinion that legal fees are warranted," Kobiljak said regarding the township paying the company's fees.
Whether or not the township needed to take over the bridge is one of the main issues in the case, as a second "free" bridge owned by Wayne County operates at the south end of Grosse Ile.
The lower courts said there was no necessity for the township to own the toll bridge, but the higher court said there was. However, the higher court ruled that the township could not take the bridge because part of it is in Riverview, according to the attorneys and Kobiljak.
Officials from the city of Riverview adopted a resolution, however, saying they would not be opposed to giving up Riverview's part of the bridge, Kobiljak said.
Considering the Michigan Supreme Court decision combined with the Riverview resolution, the court's decision is unfortunate, he said.
"I'm extremely disappointed," Rashid said. "The way they left everything here made no sense."
The township attorney said they have been litigating the issue of necessity for years. Now at the last minute, the factor of whether or not the township has the authority to take the bridge became a prevalent issue.
That was the first time the issue was raised, he said.
"It's a bad decision, quite frankly," Rashid said.
Township trustees had not had the opportunity yet this week to discuss the decision, Kobiljak said Wednesday afternoon after the parties were made aware of the decision.
He said the board would explore all options and decide its next step, especially in light of the fact that the only other bridge to the island will be shut down for repairs beginning in May.
The repairs to the Wayne County bridge are expected to last at least six months, which also was one of the main factors in the eminent domain lawsuit.
The township's leaders argued that the township should own and handle the toll bridge at the northern end of the island to assure residents' safety during the closure of the free bridge.
Smoke said that throughout the lawsuit, his company remained focused on its top priority of providing residents, businesses and visitors with safe and reliable access to and from the island.
He said he is grateful to his employees, who maintained an "unwavering commitment" to provide customers with the best possible service.
"I am also thankful for my friends and supporters in the community who encouraged me to defend the toll bridge against eminent domain extremism," he said.
"The timing of this ruling is very good because it is essential for the township board to devote its full energy and resources to working with the bridge company to ensure that the Wayne County bridge closure period goes as smoothly as possible.
"I would like my relationship with the Township Hall to return to when it was characterized by civility, cooperation and mutual commitment to doing what is right for islanders."
Ackerman said there are several loose ends the bridge company's owner is looking forward to resolving. He said they would wait to see if Grosse Ile officials want to talk with them about how to get the matters resolved.
The toll bridge has been in the Smoke family for 90 years. So, in a sense, this was a "life-threatening experience" for the family, Ackerman said.
On May 1, 1912, the Grosse Ile Bridge Co. was incorporated by founding president Edward Voigt, the great-grandfather of Paul Smoke, the current president.
According to the company, between 1912 and 1913 its owners financed, designed and constructed the toll bridge as the first automobile bridge across the Detroit River between Grosse Ile and the mainland in Riverview, which was the north end of Monguagon Township at that time.
Since opening the bridge on Nov. 27, 1913, members of the Smoke family have owned, operated and maintained the span.
Today, the corporate office of the bridge company is on Macomb Street on Grosse Ile, and the operations office is in Riverview near the entrance of the toll bridge.
The company has more than 10 employees and numerous temporary workers.
According to the owner, funding for operations, maintenance and long-term improvements of the toll bridge comes entirely from tolls from vehicles crossing the bridge.
No government funds have ever been used to improve or run the toll bridge, according to the company.
Vehicles owned by Grosse Ile Township, the Grosse Ile school district, Riverview, Wayne County, the state, and most federal government agencies are not charged a user fee to cross the bridge.
Government-owned vehicles — the vast majority owned by the township — cross the toll bridge about 1,000 times per month for free, according to the bridge company.
Each year, the company pays more than $55,000 in taxes to the township and another $55,000 to Riverview.
While the Wayne County bridge handles most of the island's traffic, the toll bridge, which is about three miles north of the free bridge, handles about a quarter of the traffic going to and from Grosse Ile each day.
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