A lawsuit filed by former Leelanau County building official Robert VanDyke against the county and administrator David W. Gill has been dismissed.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas G. Power on Monday granted a county attorney's motion for summary disposition in the case, which was filed after Gill fired VanDyke for unspecified reasons on June 4, 2007.

Just days before Gill fired him, VanDyke rescinded certifcates of occupancy at the troubled BayView condominiums in Suttons Bay because of what he termed potential “life-safety” concerns related to mechanical code violations. The day after Gill fired VanDyke, Gill reinstated the certificates of occupancy.

VanDyke had also asked the county prosecutor’s office to issue a warrant against an electrical contractor who he said violated construction codes while working on the new Leelanau County Government Center in Suttons Bay Township – a project Gill was overseeing.

VanDyke’s suit alleged that Gill and the county violated the state Whistleblowers Protection Act by firing VanDyke. But Power Monday ruled that the lawsuit did not meet requirements of the law because VanDyke’s actions were just that – “actions” and not “reports” of wrongdoing. Revocation of the certificates of occupancy and the filing of a warrant request were not actions covered by the Whistleblowers Protection Act, the judge opined. In addition, the judge said, he could find no evidence that Gill was aware of the pending warrant – and VanDyke had simply advised his boss of what he was doing with regard to BayView.

Immediately following Monday’s hearing in Circuit Court, VanDyke’s attorney Mark Hullman commented: “It’s not over, of course. We’re going to appeal.”

VanDyke himself was not present at court this week and did not respond to a reporter’s voice mail message left at his home.

The county’s “corporate counsel,” attorney John McGlinchey, said he was pleased by the judge’s ruling and said it was clear that the judge had thoroughly read and studied the entire case file before rendering his opinion.

“The judge did an outstanding job on this,” McGlinchey said. “I believe this case is appeal-proof.”

A visibly relieved Gill commented: “I’m a believer in justice – and today justice was done.”

From the outset, Gill has denied that VanDyke’s rescinding of occupancy permits at the BayView condos played any substantial role in his decision to fire VanDyke, who had been working as head of the Building Inspections department for 19 years. Gill has said that the timing of events cited in VanDyke’s Whistleblower Protection Act suit were coincidental – and that the real reasons he fired VanDyke had to do with what he characterized as VanDyke’s “loss of control” over his department.

The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners held a series of special meetings on Monday morning, one of which was held to discuss the case with McGlinchey in closed session while Power was considering his decision. The board subsequently recessed and then reconvened the meeting in open session after the decision had been rendered.

McGlinchey noted that VanDyke’s attorney would have 28 days after the entry of an order for summary disposition to file an appeal. He speculated that, even if an appeals court agrees to hear the case, little action would be required until sometime next year.

District No. 5 commissioner David “Chauncey” Shiflett asked McGlinchy how VanDyke’s attorney was being paid. McGlinchey said public records indicated that VanDyke paid his attorney a $3,000 retainer fee, and that Hullman stood to receive one-third of any money VanDyke recovered from the county following a settlement or a trial.

Shortly after he was fired, VanDyke was replaced by building official Robert Meyer; and the Building Inspections department has since been officially renamed the Leelanau County Construction Code Authority.

After his dismissal, VanDyke also filed complaints against Leelanau County with the state Bureau of Construction Codes in Lansing. The complaints led state officials to conduct a comprehensive “performance evaluation” of the Leelanau County Building Inspections department, leading to a recommendation by state officials that it be shut down. Since then, county officials have reached an agreement with state officials allowing Leelanau County to continue operating the department as long as certain conditions are met, including corrections to some projects and the re-inspection of a percentage of the projects that had already been inspected and approved.

Problems with furnace and water heater exhaust vents at the BayView condos, for example, have been fixed; and the condos have since passed all the appropriate inspections, according to Meyer.

Meyer was expected to give a full report on the progress his department has made since last summer during a meeting of the county board’s Inspections Subcommittee on Friday morning.