By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — Dean Sarber has taken up a fight against his neighbors.
It’s not likely that they will fight back themselves, but they do have some powerful friends. Sarber’s complaint is against the communications towers that sit near him and around Tyner and the surrounding area, many of which are owned by Marshall County. He brought that complaint before the Marshall County Commissioners Tuesday.

To begin with, a tower in Tyner has been a previous point of contention with Sarber. He came before the Commissioners in July of 2007 to have Marshall County Surveyor Larry Fisher survey the land that it sits on to determine who actually owns the land.
Sarber contends that “…the Township squatted on that property with a phony deed…” more than 80 years ago. To date, the survey Sarber had asked for has not been conducted.
A second point of contention for Sarber is a tower on the property of Ancilla College that he claims had not received proper permits for construction. Sarber quoted from a Marshall County tower ordinance of 2002, saying that the Marshall County Plan Commission had the power to enforce a $500 a day fine against the college for not having permits for the structure.
Marshall County Plan Director Ralph Booker said that the Board of Zoning Appeals actually has enforcement responsibilities for the tower and that the college had sought and received the proper permits for the structure.
Sarber’s final complaint had to do with towers for the EPICS system that have not been fully utilized.
The towers were intended to provide a high-speed internet link for health and emergency services throug-hout Marshall County. The towers were paid for by a grant from the state of Indiana.
John Grolich, assistant fire and EMS chief at Plymouth, reported on the system that has yet fully realized its potential, even though it was first began installation around 2003. The program was initially designed to provide statewide a high-speed internet link. Grolich said communities such as Bremen, Tippecanoe and others around the county had not made a decision where they would place towers and the system had run out of grant money.
Grolich told the commissioners the towers currently served Plymouth and LaPaz emergency services with high-speed internet and also aided in communications with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office at great savings to the county.
Sarber said the system has not been used the way it was intended, tying it to his two earlier contentions, that one tower in Tyner is illegally placed and the other not properly permitted.
Sarber told the commissioners that he “…couldn’t find an honest lawyer or surveyor in the Marshall County…” and had been advised to “…sue the county…” if he had a problem with Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals decisions.
It was unclear if Sarber would seek further action through the courts.