The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1920-12-07
Joseph H. Meyers Files Suit
Against Commissioners
and County Auditor
Plaintiff Says Large Sums Of
Money About To Be Ex-
pended Undawfully
Declares Contract Awarded
By Commissioners Is Null
and Void

AS predicted in The Banner early
this week, a suit was filed Friday in
the common pleas court of Knox
county by Joseph H. Meyers of Mt.
Vernon against the Board of County
Commissioners and A. ID. Rinehart,
auditor of Knox county, asking that
the contract recently let for new
heating plant at the court house and
Knox county Jail be declared null and
void and that the commissioners be
enjOined from carrying out or com.
pleting the same
The petition in full follows:
The plaintiff is a taxpayer of Knox
county, Ohio, and brings this action
on behalf of himself and all other
taxpayers of said county. The de-
PENDANTS, John Rice, Wilson Bradrick
and Joseph McMillen, constitute the
regularly elected, qualified and acting
board of commissioners of Knox
county, Ohio, and the defendant, A.
d. Rinehart, is the duly qualified and
acting county auditor of said county
Plaintiff says that on or about the
29th day of November, 1920, the de-
fendant, the board of county commits
sioners of Knox county, Ohio, entered
into written contract with the c.
G.. Snow Plumbing & Heating Co. by
the terms of which it was to furnish
a heating plant, with all the neces-
,sary pipes, boilers, radiators and
equipment for the purpose of heating
the courthouse, Jail and sheriff's resi-
dence, for the sum of $13,052
W Plaintiff says that prior to the max
ing Of said contract, sometime in the
month of September, 1920, said board
of county commissioners, employed
F. A. Richards as engineer and archi-
tect to prepare plans, specifications
and estimates of the proposed heat
ing plant; that said Richards was at
the employ and interested in COM
pany known as the Moline Heating
Co., of Moline, ILL.,, and that he had
prepared by said company, plans and
specifications which required the use
and installation. of so much of said
equipment made and sold or con-
trolled by said company that it Great
ed monopoly in favor of said Moline
Co., and called for the erection and
installation of plant that could not
be erected without the use of said
company's equipment; that the sys-
tenn of heating was that used and
employed by said Moline CO., and
without the use of which bidders and
prospective contractors could not in
stall said system.
Plaintiff says that while said Rich
ards was in the employ of the defend.
ant, the county commissioners, as
their agent, he was also interested as
the agent and representative of said
Moline Co., and the plans and spect
fications drawn by him and his COM
pany became and are part of the
contract above referred to. PLAINTIFF
vi
said Richards and tile Moline Co., he
was not a proper and competent per-
son to employ as architect and engi-
neer for the preparation of the plans
and specifications, and that by reason
of the aforesaid facts the contract
above referred to, in which he is to
be the supervising engineer and ar.
chitect of all matters in dispute, is
unlawful and void.
v Plaintiff further AYERS that there
was no full and accurate estimate of
each item of expense of the aggre-
gate cost of said proposed heating
plant filed with said plans and speci.
fications, nor were such estimates in
detail or the aggregate ever consid-
cred by the defendant, the board of
commissioners, as required by law;
that the plans, drawings, and .specifi-
cations OF the work and materials to
be furnished and estimates or of the
costs thereof in detail or in the ag.
gregate was never submitted to said
commissioners and to the clerk of
courts, sheriff and probate judge and
some person appointed by the judge
of the common pleas court, for their
approval as required by law; that the
contract above mentioned, which ex
ceeds one thousand dollars, was new
! er certified to be in accordance with
the laws governing the erection and
installation of such heating plant, by
the prosecuting attorney, nor has his
approval ever been endorsed on said
contract, although work has beer