As posted on June 14th of this year. the Honorable Judge Eugene Lucci issued an order for preliminary approval for an agreed to settlement of our class action lawsuit against ODNR and the State of Ohio. The final hearing for any oral arguments or objections by class members will be held October 14 of this year. A publication in the newspapers will advise of this hearing and instructions for any who wish to appear at the final hearing. A Settlement agent has been named who will administer claims for distribution of the money that will be paid to the submerged lands leaseholders as well as other qualified lakeshore owners claimants.  If this settlement is approved, that will be the end of the more than 12 year old court battle which OLG won in every Court initially and on two subsequent appeals. If the settlement is not approved, we go back to square one in the litigation where it left off. OLG sees this settlement as a win for lakeshore owners. The settlement was reached after nearly a year of negotiations and OLG believes that this is the best settlement that could be attained without going back to litigation. To read Judge Lucci’s full order please click the following link. Order preliminarily approving class action settlement (03800632x7A241)
OLG President Tony Yankel issued a press release on June 14 which has been covered in most of the local newspapers. To read the press release, OLG Press Release 6-15-16
The Settlement Document called the Stipulation lays out all the terms and conditions of the settlement. This is another lengthy document. Exhibit B includes the instructions for submitting a claim to be compensated for (1) lease payments and (2) taking by ODNR. It also provides for persons who may object to the settlement and how they can provide written objection to the Court. Exhibit C is  is the plan of allocation including the methodology that will be used to calculate payments. Exhibit C-1  is a spreadsheet for submerged lands lease holders and the expected repayment by ODNR. In most cases repayment is pennies on the dollar, based on ODNR’s determination of where the property boundary lies. The spread sheet begins on page 41 of the document. Exhibit D begins on page 197 of the document and is Judge Lucci Order for Preliminary Approval of the Class action settlement. To view the document, click the following link: Stipulation of Settlement w-Exhibits 5-27-16