Saline Twp. Resident Appeals Denial Of Her Suit To Intervene

Saline Township resident Kathryn Haushalter filed a Motion for Reconsideration in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, asking the court to reconsider its earlier denial of her request to intervene in Related Digital’s data center project, currently under construction.

A motion for reconsideration is a procedural request that asks the court to correct a “palpable error” and to render a different decision. In the suit Haushalter argues that the court’s denial of intervention is based upon three errors, and requests the court reconsider its bench ruling on Feb. 20 and its March 7 order.

In the suit, Haushalter requests the court reconsider its order under MCR 2.119(F)(1), claiming it is founded on the following errors:

1. The court erred in concluding Haushalter could not intervene because the case was closed, a rule that, if correct, would nullify intervention motions as a matter of law whenever a judgment is entered, contrary to Michigan precedent that expressly permits post-judgment interventions to protect substantial rights and avoid collateral attacks.
2. Determining that Haushalter had standing to intervene as a defendant, the court proceeded to weigh merits of her Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) claim rather than stopping analysis as required under MCR 2.209 once the criteria for intervention were satisfied.
3. The court erroneously found Haushalter’s claims time-barred despite statutory authority allowing her at least sixty (60) days to bring her Motion.

Correcting these errors must result in an alternative disposition of Haushalter’s Motion to Intervene. At the time of this story, a hearing date has not been scheduled.