La Grange Today

Four seeking election to three park board seats

Four candidates will be on the ballot to fill three open seats on the Park District of La Grange board of commissioners. Three are incumbents and one is seeking elected office locally for the first time.

The candidates are listed below in the order they will appear on the April 7 ballot, along with their home addresses. This information was provided by the park district office and is unofficial until a certified ballot is received, no later than Feb. 5, by the Cook County clerk's office:

1. Timothy Kelpsas, 67 N. Brainard Ave.

2. Robert Ashby, 121 S. Ashland Ave.

3. James Boo, 1327 Mason Dr.

4. Christopher Walsh, 31 S. Spring Ave.

Ashby, Kelpsas and Walsh are incumbents. Kelpsas currently holds the post of president of the park board. Ashby is vice president of the board.

Boo is seeking elected office locally for the first time.

Candidates for park commisioner are required to run as non-partisans, however Ashby, Boo and Walsh received the endorsement of the La Grange Citizens Council, from whose membership the La Grange Community Party was formed in support of a slate of candidates seeking election to village offices.

All candidates for village offices running unopposed

Will there be a dramatic reduction in campaign yard signs throughout La Grange in the run-up to this year's election of village officers? Candidates for every open position—president, clerk and three trustees—are running unopposed, and all but one are incumbents.

Four incumbent candidates seeking re-election to the library's board of trustees also are running unopposed.

The candidates are listed below in the order they will appear on the April 7 ballot, along with their home addresses. This information was provided by the office of the village clerk and is unofficial until a certified ballot is received, no later than Feb. 5, by the Cook County clerk's office:

1. Village President, Elizabeth M. Asperger, 301 S. Waiola Ave

2. Library Trustee, Jane Rooney Byczek, 445 S. Spring Ave

3. Library Trustee, William N. Coffee, 320 S. Madison Ave

4. Library Trustee, Mary S. Nelson, 1200 Carriage Ln

5. Library Trustee, Becky Siegel Spratford, 440 S. Kensington Ave

6. Village Trustee, William R. Holder, 611 S. Waiola Ave

7. Village Trustee, Michael R. Horvath, 412 S. Kensington Ave

8. Village Trustee, Mark S. Langan, 601 S. Ninth Ave

9. Village Clerk, Robert N. Milne, 333 Leitch Ave

The candidates running for the offices of president, village trustee and clerk also will be identified as members of the La Grange Community Party. Candidates for library trustee are required to run as non-partisans.

All of the above candidates received the endorsement of the La Grange Citizens Council.

Holder is the only non-incumbent, seeking a seat on the village board that will be vacated by trustee Barb Wolf, who decided not to seek re-election.

Western Springs swimmer died of natural causes

A man who collapsed Monday night while in the swimming pool at Lyons Township High School's south campus died of natural causes, Brian Budds, Western Springs deputy director of public safety, said today.

Initial reports from the Cook County Medical Examiner indicating that Steven R.  Ballagh, 43, of Western Springs, drowned were later revised,  Budds said.

Ballagh was pulled from the shallow end of the pool at 8:03 p.m., just after a one-hour open swim period had begun, Jennifer Bialobok, the high school's community relations director, said.

Lifeguards performed CPR on Ballagh until paramedics arrived and transported him to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:55 p.m.

Coryell files amended complaint, adds ARP to lawsuit

Attorneys for La Grange resident Orlando Coryell this morning filed an amended complaint in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the Park District of La Grange from selling 2.82 acres of Gordon Park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

Also, a motion to add ARP as a defendant  in the lawsuit was granted by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Leroy Martin Jr., who is hearing the case.

In the 37-page revised complaint, Tom Beyer and Mark Wohlberg introduced two new counts, and attempted to strengthen arguments on three counts that initially were dismissed without prejudice by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Leroy Martin Jr.

One other count from the original complaint that was not dismissed by the judge also is included.

The first new charge, listed as Count V, argues that sale of the park land is "unconstitutional as it violates Article VIII, Section 1a of the Illinois Constitution, which holds that 'Public ... property ... shall only be used for a public purpose.'"  Wohlberg said the section is commonly referred to as the Public Purpose Doctrine.

 The other new charge, Count VI, contends the statutory scheme for selling parkland as contained  in the Park District Code is itself unconstitutional for the same reason.

The three counts are being reargued are:

•  Count II, which alleges that the Park District has no basis for finding that the two parcels it wants to sell are no longer useful as parkland; 
• Count III, which contends that, although the Park District held a public auction at which ARP was the successful bidder,  ARP also was the sole bidder because of actions by the Park District that gave ARP an overwhelming advantage over other potential bidders; and
• Count IV,which maintains the sale violates the Public Trust Doctrine.

Count I, which was not dismissed earlier, alleges that the Park District failed to comply with statutory requirements in conducting a Nov. 4 public referendum in which voters approved the sale by a 55 to 45 percent margin.

ARP was added as a defendant because its successful bid for the property, which was formally accepted by park commissioners Jan. 15, gives the developer a direct interest in the outcome of the lawsuit, Beyer said.

"They not only should be included, they have a right to be included," Beyer said.

Rob Bush, attorney for the Park District, said he would not object to inclduing ARP. He declined comment this morning on the amended complaint as he had not yet received a copy.

Judge Martin scheduled the next status hearing on the case for Feb. 3 at 9:30 a.m.

Village board schedules open meetings training

The La Grange village board of trustees Monday night will participate in a training session to review the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) in an effort to ensure compliance when convening closed sessions to discuss public business.

Village officials agreed to undergo OMA training after the Illinois Attorney General last July determined that the board had violated that law in a meeting with owners of the La Grange Theatre to discuss extending financial aid to the downtown movie house.

The session will be conducted by Richard A. Martens, an attorney with a private practice based in Chicago. Martens was chosen after representatives of the attorney general's office said they could not accommodate the village's requirement that the session be held in the evening.

The training session will take place during the board's Monday night meeting at Village Hall following the conclusion of regular business.

Café 36 makeover airs Jan. 15 on Kitchen Nightmares

Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay's makeover of Café 36 in downtown La Grange will be featured tomorrow (Jan. 15) evening in an episode of Kitchen Nightmares on the Fox television network.

Ramsay and his crew spent several days in town last February and March filming the show, wherein the tell-it-like-it-is chef coached owners Terry and Carol Gilmer through a regimen designed to turn around their struggling bistro on Calendar Court.

Must have worked, as the restaurent is alive and well nearly a year later.

The episode airs locally at 8:00 p.m. on Chicago's Fox affiliate, WFLD-TV Channel 32.

Peak school parking ban extended on N Stone Ave

Parking along the west side 200 block of N Stone Ave will be prohibited during peak school traffic hours, under an ordinance approved Monday night by the La Grange village board of trustees.

The block, which runs north from Ogden Ave to Brewster Ave, is located between Ogden School and Park Junior High.

No parking will be permitted along the block from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., Monday through Friday. Similar restrictions already exist on the 100 block of N Stone Ave and the 200 block of N Waiola.

Village Manager Bob Pilipiszyn said that street receives a relatively high amount of vehicular traffic during peak pick-up and drop-off hours. Vehicles parking on both sides of the street make it difficult for buses and vehicles to navigate through the area, he said.

A petition supporting the parking restrictions was signed by every affected resident, Pilipisyzn said. Officials from both schools nearby also expressed no objections.

Man decapitated by IHB freight train ruled a suicide

The death of a 61-year old Lyons man who was run over by a freight train on the Indiana Harbor Belt rail line Friday afternoon has been ruled a suicide, La Grange Police Chief Michael Holub said today.

The victim, Joseph Dubinskas, was decapitated after apparently lying down next to the southbound tracks near Ogden Ave and placing his head inside the rail as the train approached. Although the train was traveling under 10 mph, the engineer was unable to avoid hitting the victim, Holub said.

Footprints the victim left in the snow led to the scene from a stairway descending from the Ogden Ave overpass, Holub said.

Dubinskas, a Marine veteran with a history of mental illness, was tentatively identified when his description matched a missing person report filed with Lyons police by a family relative. Fingerprints later confirmed his identity, Holub said. 

Village to swear in new fire captain, lieutenant

A new captain and lieutenant of the La Grange fire department will be sworn in Monday night at the regular meeting of the village board of trustees.

David Rapp has been promoted to the position of fire captain. He joined the department in 1992 as a firefighter and most recently held the rank of lieutenant.

Todd Berghaus has been promoted to the position of fire lieutenant.  He joined the department in 1996 as a firefighter/paramedic.

The promotions follow the retirement in November of Fire Captain Gary Mayer.

The village board Monday also will recognize Police Lieutenant Bill Trzeciak and Police Officer Russ Chorley, who both on Jan. 2 attained 25 years of service in the department.

Auction is done, but Gordon Park sale still in question

Two parcels of Gordon Park totaling 2.82 acres finally were sold at auction this afternoon by the Park District of La Grange. The successful and only bidders present were representatives from Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP), who plan to include the parkland in a redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA property, which adjoins the parcels.

Whether or not the Georgia-based developer ever takes title to the parcels remains in question as a legal battle plays out in Cook County circuit court, wherein La Grange resident Orlando Coryell seeks to prevent the sale of the parkland.

Representatives of Sheldon Good & Co. conducted the auction, which was held in the banquet room of the park district's recreation center. The proceedings were short and perfunctory, lasting only six minutes.

Alan Kravets, Sheldon Good's president, described the parcels and briefly reviewed the terms of sale, which included a stipulation that no closing date could be scheduled before March 1, a requirement imposed by Cook County Judge Leroy K. Martin Jr., who is hearing the lawsuit. There was, however, no mention of the lawsuit itself.

Auctioneer Bruce Sayre then summarized ARP's bid as follows:

• $4,555,866 in cash;
• Excess fill dirt up to 46,000 cubic yards;
• Reimbursement of professional fees and development costs up  to $125,000; and
• Miscellaneous additional in-kind services.

After receiving acknowledgment from ARP representatives that its bid had been accurately summarized, Sayre declared the auction closed and awarded sale to ARP, conditioned on formal acceptance of the bid by park commissioners at their next regular meeting, Jan. 15.

Ben Curran, ARP's director of development, declined comment after the auction. "We're going to not comment right now until the park district's process is complete," he said.

Commissioners likely will approve the bid with little if any discussion as the details already had been formalized and agreed to in a contract between the park district and the developer last September, even before the Nov. 4 public referendum in which voters authorized the sale.

"When [the contract] is accepted by the park district it will be made available to the public," Robert Bush, attorney for the park district, who was its sole representative at the auction. Not one of the five park commissioners was in attendance, nor was Executive Director Dean Bissias.

Village resident, Jim Boo, who is seeking election to the park district board in April, observed the proceedings from the audience. He left immediately afterwards without comment.

"I'm neither surprised nor not surprised," Bush said, regarding the fact that ARP was the auction's only bidder. "It was a public auction, so I'm never surprised one way or the other."

One of the counts in Coryell's lawsuit alleged that today's public auction was more accurately a private sale, claiming that ARP had an unfair advantage over other potential bidders. In 2007, the park district awarded the developer a contract to purchase the same park parcels. While that attempt to sell the parcels directly to ARP was blocked by a court ruling last June, that earlier sale contract allowed the ARP to obtain a rezoning of the parkland for its exclusive use to build a major residential and commercial development known as La Grange Place.

Although Judge Martin dismissed that count Monday, along with two of the three other counts contained in the lawsuit, the judge indicated that he did not necessarily dismiss the notion that ARP had an unfair advantage, but that Coryell's attorneys had not properly argued the count.

Attorney Tom Beyer, who represents Coryell, said earlier today he plans to revise that count for the court in an amended complaint, which also likely will contain at least two new counts. Neither Beyer nor his co-counsel, Mark Wohlberg, attended the auction.

Attorneys for both sides also are preparing arguments on the one count that was not dismissed, which alleges that the sale should not occur because park officials did not properly follow procedures outlined in the Illinois Park District Code for holding the referendum.

Judge Martin scheduled a status hearing for Jan. 26.

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POSTSCRIPT: Richard Aaronson, president of Atlantic Realty Partners, tells The Doings newspaper he is "cautiously optimistic" that the La Grange Place development will move forward after winning Thursday's auction to purchase two parcels of Gordon Park. Link to that story.