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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


THE LOCAL AREA WATCH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS, GRAND RAPIDS CITY COMMISSION, and GRAND RAPIDS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION, Defendants-Appellees.

FOR PUBLICATION May 20, 2004 9:05 a.m. No. 243849 Kent Circuit Court LC No. 02-000218-CZ

Official Reported Version

Before: Murray, P.J., and Murphy and Markey, JJ. MARKEY, J. Plaintiff brought this action under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq., and appeals by right the trial court's order granting summary disposition to defendants. Plaintiff, a nonprofit corporation, brought suit against defendants seeking an order requiring defendants to produce certain public records not exempt under the FOIA, reasonable attorney fees, and punitive damages. Plaintiff moved for summary disposition, but the trial court ruled in favor of defendants, entirely dismissing plaintiff 's claim. We affirm. I. Summary of Facts and Proceedings Plaintiff is a Michigan nonprofit corporation. William Q. Tingley is plaintiff 's executive director and the secretary and general manager of Proto-Cam, Inc. (Proto-Cam),1 a tool manufacturer that owns and operates a manufacturing facility at 1009 Ottawa Avenue, N.W. in Grand Rapids. The Proto-Cam facility is located across an alley from an old furniture plant on North Monroe Avenue (the B&G Building) that has been recently redeveloped into commercial offices and residential living space. Tingley believes that the developers of the B&G Building removed soil from beneath the building and disposed of it in other locations, including the Grand Rapids Water Filtration Plant. Tingley suspected the soil contained a high level of industrial waste. Tingley believes that such activity violated

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Michigan Law