In Ellis County District Court, a judge ruled for the Ellis County Commission in the ongoing dispute over Blue Sky Acres.

Judge Bruce Gatterman sided in favor of the Ellis County Commissioners and Commissioner Marcy McClelland over the county’s failure to approve the final plat for a proposed subdivision.

Mary Alice Unrein, who had proposed the subdivision, initiated the legal action after the Ellis County Commission failed to approve the plat. Commissioner Dean Haselhorst voted in favor of the plat, McClelland against. Because Commissioner Barb Wasinger was forced to abstain due to a potential conflict, the motion failed.

“It is not the function of this Court to decide if McClelland was right or wrong,” the judge wrote in his ruling. “In determining whether her decision, and ultimately the decision of the Board, were reasonable, the Court finds that the decision was clearly within the scope of authority of the Defendants as conferred by ordinance; the decision was supported by relevant and substantial evidence; and the decision was not as a matter of law unreasonable or without foundation in fact.”

Click HERE to see the decision and check Hays Post for more as the story develops.