LdF town board holds special meeting on road issue

The Lac du Flambeau town board met in special session Thursday, Feb. 15 to discuss its ongoing dispute with the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians regarding road easements.

Town chairman Matt Gaulke opened the meeting by explaining to the audience of approximately 30 people the reason why town attorney Greg Harrold was present and Green Bay attorney Frank Kowalkowski was on the phone. 

Kowalkowski is the attorney the town hired last year after the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians barricaded four town roads due to elapsed easements.

So far, the easement issue has spawned at least four pieces of litigation of various types that Kowalkowski summarized. 

This information was also expected to posted on the town’s website. 

“The board had been getting a lot of questions regarding this issue that we didn’t know or couldn’t answer because of the pending lawsuits that we have,” Gaulke said. “So, what I did was I asked Greg to come to the meeting and try to answer questions that he can.”

Harrold opened his remarks by referring to the “No comment” response attorneys often give when asked about a pending court case or lawsuit. 

“There’s a reason why they do that,” he said. “Myself and Mr. Kowalkowski have advised the town board members that they should make no comments about this pending litigation.”

One of the lawsuits the town is involved in, Harrold said, involves the U.S. government which is suing the town because it has continued to let people use the four roads in question: Annie Sunn Lane, Center Sugarbush Lane, East Ross Allen Lake Lane and Elsie Lake Lane. 

In another lawsuit brought against the town by property owners along the four roads, he said, “they’re being sued for not allowing people to use the roads.”

“So, it’s very complicated and extremely unusual litigation,” Harrold said. “They (the town) are being sued ... there are two suits in state court and one suit in federal court, that are alleging that they (the town) are doing the opposite things in the suits.”

A lawsuit has also been brought by the town against the federal government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). 

In that lawsuit, the town is contending the BIA hasn’t complied with requests for records submitted by Kowalkowski.

“So, statements made by myself, statements made by board members can become used in that litigation,” Harrold said. “It could be detrimental to the overall position of the town in that litigation and that’s why the town has not been able to comment on this and that’s why we, as attorneys, feel as though we [are] not doing justice to our clients if we start getting involved in discussing the merits of these lawsuits.”

His comments set the tone for the meeting as there were questions asked but for the most part, none that Harrold or Kowalkowski said they could answer for reasons Harrold stated. 

At one point, the discussion touched on not just the current issue with the four roads but any other roads in Lac du Flambeau that might become involved in a similar situation between the town and the tribe and the length of time it could take to find a resolution to all of it.

Harrold said there was one “one thing” he wanted to make clear. 

“The town board has done everything that we can think of in their powers to try to resolve this,” he said. “They have made ... from day one, they have continuously been willing to be open to talks with all parties involved. They continue to be open to those talks and will go to whatever they’re asked to do to try and talk this through and seek other resolutions.”

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].