City Unable To Locate Defendant In Power Plant Lawsuit

By Gordon HopkinsThe City of Fairbury has been unable to locate the company that contracted with the city to remove thousands of dollars worth of equipment from the now defunct Fairbury municipal power plant but left town without paying the full amount. As a result, city attorneys have been unable to serve the summons for a lawsuit against Industrial Engineering Solutions (IES), LLC. Although the contract signed by Fairbury Mayor Spencer Brown had an address in Riverside, California, IES was actually registered in Texas. On December 9, 2023, a process server attempted to deliver the summons to the registered agent, Tony Mitlo, at the address registered in Texas.The process server, Paul Brennan with Lone Star Attorney Service, indicated the family living at the address did not know the defendant, “I was told by the father of the family that they are new to this house and that they are renting it. Since they were new, he did not know whether the recipient was a former renter.” On January 18, 2024, District Court Judge Julie Smith approved a motion for substitute service.In some cases, the law requires that certain documents, such as a summons, be served on the other party. The court will allow alternative methods of service if service cannot be made by traditional means. In this case, the city’s attorney is being allowed to serve the summons via email. However, the city has attempted to reach IES in the past via email, with no response.FJN also attempted to contact IES via email and has not received any response.As noted by FJN in a previous story, one of the men associated with IES, Jimmy Mitlo, gave Mayor Brown a false name, Jimmy Daniels.When asked for comment, Mayor Brown responded, “The city has no updates on ongoing litigation at this time.”Previously, Mayor Brown characterized the issue as a “breach of contract.”

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