A Manitowoc man who sued the county over a driveway on his land will have to pay for fines for having it on County Highway B.
Court records show that Judge Robert Dewane ruled in favor of the county, asking resident Jim Theyerl to pay $16,800 for the 672 days the county has imposed a fine on his property for having the driveway.
Theyerl was also held in contempt of court for his untruthfulness regarding a lawyer’s attendance rate recording of previous court proceedings.
Attorney Tarrance Fox testified in Branch 3 that he was not present during a court proceeding in September and did not record proceedings without permission.
Judge Dewane excused Fox with apologies from the court.
He then reviewed a motion from Theyerl for injunctive relief and a request for an evidentiary hearing.
Manitowoc County Corporate Counsel Peter Conrad objected to the motion before Theyerl got the chance to respond.
Dewane denied the motion for injunctive relief before Conrad addressed the forfeitures, as outlined in the Manitowoc County code.
Theyerl then addressed the court, stating that the case should be transferred to another county and that he should not be required to pay the forfeiture.
On a recent episode of WOMT’s Open Mic, Theyerl said that the county is taking out his driveway.
According to the county, Theyerl completed the driveway because he knew he wouldn’t have been able to obtain a permit to build it in the first place.
The case was tried in court on September 3rd, with Highway Commissioner Greg Grotegut testifying that the driveway was added over a period of days in December 2023.
Court records also indicate that the highway committee sent a letter to Theyerl, asking him to remove the driveway within 30 days, as that area is controlled access.
Judge Dewane also ruled that the driveway fine could have been reduced to $1,000 if the driveway had been removed within 30 days of the notice.
