The office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed court documents Wednesday seeking to block the city of New Albany from conducting further work on a low-water dam without a permit from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

The attorney who filed the motion on behalf of the Indiana DNR is asking the judge for a temporary and permanent injunction requiring the city to “cease construction in the channel of Silver Creek below the Providence Mill Dam” and “remove all fill materials it has placed in the channel of Silver Creek since August 2.” The dam is also known as the Glenwood Park Dam and by other names.

Last week, the city announced that Mayor Jeff Gahan had approved “emergency maintenance” on the six-foot-tall dam, a structure whose completion had been pending for three years.

River Heritage Conservancy, the organization responsible for plans for nearby Origin Park, wants to remove the dam to make the creek safer. The city has resisted that demolition, saying it wants to rebuild it instead.

According to the city’s statement, immediate action is needed to “eliminate the hydraulic rolling effect caused by the current condition of the dam.”

In May, 14-year-old Andre “AJ” Edwards Jr. drowned in the creek near the dam. His mother is demanding $700,000 in damages from the city for his death.

However, the state alleges the city undertook the project without the required permit from the Indiana DNR, which is required under the state’s flood control law.

In 2022, New Albany applied for a permit to build a rock ramp to eliminate backflow just below the dam. The request was denied last November due to deficiencies in the application. The city recently announced it plans to reapply.

According to DNR spokeswoman Holly Lawson, Gahan was issued a Class B misdemeanor on Tuesday for directing the work, which involved workers filling the area in front of the dam with gravel and rocks. Lawson also said DNR asked workers on Tuesday to stop the unauthorized work, which she said they did.

It is not clear if work resumed Wednesday or if the city planned further work, but a video posted to the New Albany City Council’s Facebook page shortly before 3 p.m. that day shows workers filling the area and several shots of the dam being completely covered in rocks at the front.

According to the lawsuit, the Indiana DNR contacted the city last week and asked about its authority to do this work without a state permit.

City Attorney Shane Gibson responded to the board on Monday that the mayor has the authority to do so without a permit and attached a copy of an order Gahan signed over the weekend declaring a state of emergency. His order references New Albany and Indiana law.

The evidence includes two executive orders signed on August 4. One of them is the declaration of emergency, the second regulates the work carried out under this declaration.

“Without urgent executive action, this imminent danger will persist and continue to pose a threat to the safety and well-being of the people of New Albany,” the order said.

According to the complaint, “no Indiana state law authorizes the city to conduct construction activities in the flood plain without first obtaining a permit from the DNR.”

According to online court records, the city had not responded to the complaint as of Friday.

In 2021, a contractor from the River Heritage Conservancy, which is responsible for the plans for Origin Park, received a permit from the Indiana DNR to demolish the dam, which is more than a century old. The conservation agency wants to make Silver Creek safer for recreational paddlers.

Gahan’s administration soon challenged this and continued to fight against the dam’s demolition at the state and local levels, citing historical, environmental and recreational concerns if the dam is demolished.

The dam is located at Silver Creek Landing, a recreational project sponsored by New Albany.

In addition to the request for a temporary restraining order, the state is asking the judge for a preliminary injunction preventing the city from putting fill material in the creek.

A copy of the complaint filed with the court shows that Gahan is scheduled to appear for a hearing on the case on August 20 at 4 p.m.

Southern Indiana coverage is funded in part by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.