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An Ohio summer camp is suing the owner of a fudge company in Wayne County, claiming the company is keeping the camp from accessing water it has a legal right to access.
The lawsuit was filed June 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana by plaintiff Camp Mahanaim LLC, which operates in Indiana and just across the Ohio border in Preble County.
Attorneys for the camp said they could not comment on the pending lawsuit.
The lawsuit names Louie Keen as the defendant. Keen owns the Uranus Fudge Factory & General Store, 6400 National Road East, in Richmond, Indiana.
According to the lawsuit, the camp has rights to a private water line system that sits on property owned by Keen under an implied easement. The system was originally installed to serve a larger property area that includes the camp.
But the complaint claims that Keen shut off the water line valve sometime in late May, depriving the camp access to water. He also allegedly threatened to have camp leaders arrested if they tried to turn the water back on, according to court documents.
The fudge company issued a statement on Facebook responding to the lawsuit:
“While we are sympathetic with the camp’s water situation, we legally cannot do what the camp is requesting,” the statement says. “Under the state utility laws, we are prohibited from acting as a mid-stream water utility or resell water through our private meter to neighboring properties. We believe the camp has known about its water situation for over a year, yet [chose] not to pursue the legal connection arrangement proposed by Indiana-American Water. Instead, the camp choose to sue us rather than pay for its own legal infrastructure.”
Keen’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indiana law states that youth camps must use a public water supply if one is available within a reasonable distance. State law also says that camps must comply with fire and building safety codes at all camp facilities.
The camp raised these concerns, and on June 1, members of the Richmond Common Council voted to hold Keen’s pending commercial zoning change application in response to the camp’s public concerns regarding the valve shutoff.
The Richmond City Council brought the concerns to the Indiana State Fire Marshal, who, alongside the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, intervened and demanded the water be restored on June 4.
But the water was shut off again on June 5, with Keen asserting that his fire safety obligation was satisfied, as one of the camp’s two fire hydrants was operational. He further stated that the camp’s domestic water access for camp facilities was a different matter, according to the lawsuit.
In response, the camp argued that it requires full domestic water access to operate, and that Keen’s argument that fire compliance satisfies the scope of the camp’s easement rights is legally incorrect.
Keen said he believes that turning on the water valve equates to selling water to the camp, which is illegal. The camp, however, said that Keen is conflating a commercial transaction with the camp’s property right to access the valve through an implied easement.
While the camp has not yet proved how the water was shut off on June 5, a drone photograph showed a vehicle owned by Keen parked over the valve box on June 5, effectively blocking access to the valve regardless of how the water was shut off in the first place, according to court documents. The camp believes Keen intentionally parked his vehicle over the valve box.
The complaint states that a neighboring commercial truck stop and hotel experienced water service disruptions within the same timeframe that the valve was shut off.
The camp said that prior to filing a lawsuit, its leaders confirmed with the installer of the shared water system that the valve was designed to serve the camp’s property. The camp said it filed the lawsuit after exhausting all other remedies, as local authorities cannot resolve the matter because implied easement law is outside their regulatory jurisdiction.
“We are disappointed that Camp Mahanaim has chosen to litigate,” Uranus Fudge Factory said on Facebook. “The legal reality is very simple: We are currently in full compliance with state utility laws, and the camp is asking a judge to order us to break it.”
The camp began its summer season on June 8, but as of June 5, only one of five camp buildings had water through an emergency backup system approved by the Indiana Department of Health.
The camp is seeking injunctive relief ordering Keen to restore water access to the camp and refrain from restricting access any further.
Uranus Fudge Factory is based in St. Robert, Missouri, where it was founded as a roadside attraction on Route 66 in 2015. It opened Indiana locations in Anderson in 2022 and in Richmond in 2024. The chain is known for publicizing itself through off-color puns involving its name.
The case is Camp Mahanaim, LLC et al v. Louie Keen, 1:26-cv-01238-JPH-MJD.
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