La Grange Today

Court approves sale of Gordon Park parcels

UPDATED - Oct. 12, 2:55 a.m.

After a three-year legal battle, the Park District of La Grange Friday finally got its first victory in Cook County Court when Judge Susan Fox Gillis approved the district's latest petition to sell two parcels—2.82 acres in total—from the northwest corner of Gordon Park.

"We are very pleased with the ruling," Rob Bush, attorney for the Park District said after it was delivered by Gillis shortly before 5 p.m., at the end of a four-day trial.

"I think this will benefit all the citizens of La Grange," Brad Belcaster, park board vice president, said.

Board President Mary Ellen Penicook smiled amid a flurry of hugs and handshakes, but declined a request for comment.

The decision was a blow for the La Grange Friends of the Park, a group of some 20 residents who formally opposed the sale in court. A handful of its members, including former park commissioner Kevin Shields, were on hand for the ruling.

"I feel like there has been a death," Shields, an outspoken critic of the sale since it was first announced in the summer of 2007, said of the ruling.

Also present was Orlando Coryell, another La Grange resident who successfully blocked the Park District's initial sale petition, filed in Sept. 2007 and dismissed in June 2008, also by Gillis.

Tom Beyer, one of three attorneys representing the Friends, said they likely would file a motion for reconsideration within the next 30 days and, depending on its outcome, decide whether to appeal Friday's ruling.

Gillis, who was a strong advocate for settlement talks held one year ago in hopes of reaching an agreement that would allow both parties to emerge with a partial victory, came down Friday firmly in support of an amended petition filed last month by the Park District.

Under terms outlined in her ruling, the Park District can sell the parcels for cash equal to or exceeding $2.985 million, or 100 percent of the average of the three appraisals conducted at any time within 18 months of the date of a sales contract.

The land can be sold to anyone, and there apparently is no time limit on disposing of the property.

The $2.985 million figure was the amount agreed upon in a purchase proposal made to the Park District in 2009 by Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP), according to testimony presented in court Tuesday by Belcaster and ARP President Richard Aaronson. The Atlanta-based developer originally agreed in 2007 to pay $4.5 million in cash and as much as $2 million in services, providing and contouring landfill for a renovation of the remaining 14 acres of Gordon Park. The developer cited a deteriorating economy and real estate market as the reason for reducing its offer.

Outside the courtroom following his testimony, Aaronson said he was still interested in purchasing the park parcels if the terms and conditions were right.

Until fall of 2009, ARP also had a contract to purchase to the former YMCA Rich Port site, adjacent to the Gordon Park parcels. The developer had plans, approved by the Village of La Grange, to build a major residential and commercial project on the combined parcels, known as La Grange Place.

But when Aaronson attempted to renegotiate the purchase price, again to reflect the decline in real estate values, YMCA officials withdrew, saying the reduced amount offered was insufficient to allow them to purchase property elsewhere for a new facility. The vacant Rich Port facility subsequently was demolished this past summer at a cost to the YMCA of $600,000.

As of Monday afternoon, a YMCA spokesman had not responded to a request for comment on Friday's ruling.

The Park District said it intends to use most of any proceeds it receives from the sale to pay for a major renovation of ball fields and other recreational facilities on the remaining 14 acres of Gordon Park. The renovation plan factored greatly in Gillis' decision. At least $500,000 would be spent to replenish the district's capital reserves.

But the judge's ruling imposes no restrictions on how the money is spent.

Gordon Park renovation plans proceed cautiously as park commissioners wrestle with funding concerns

Commissioners for the Park District of La Grange last Thursday authorized the solicitation of bids for the construction of the first phase of its long-promised renovation of Gordon Park.

But commissioners tabled a vote to approve a $2.2 million construction budget for the first-phase work, relenting to concerns expressed by Bob Ashby, the park board's vice president, that the district has not secured adequate funding for the project.

"No way, shape or form do we have $2.2 million," Ashby said, who chairs the board's finance committee.

Dean Bissias, the park district's executive director, agreed, telling the board that $1.5 million might be available.

"I think $1.5 million is pretty far out there," Ashby responded.

"It's going to stretch the funds, no doubt about it," Bissias said.

Money these days apparently is tight for the park district, at least more so than in Nov. 2008, when commissioners initially approved a renovation budget for Gordon Park totaling more than $4.5 million.

At the time, they were counting on receiving some $6.5 million in cash and in-kind services from Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) in exchange for selling the developer 2.82 acres of Gordon Park adjoining the former Rich Port YMCA site. ARP planned to redevelop both parcels with a major residential and commercial project, known as La Grange Place.

Both ARP's project and the renovation plans for Gordon Park appeared to have a distinct green light as district voters that November authorized the parkland sale in a public referendum by a margin of 55 to 45 percent.

But the park district also was embroiled in series of lawsuits brought by various residents who opposed selling any parkland. The legal battle still continues today, going on nearly three years.

In the meantime, the collapse of the real estate market forced ARP to dramatically scale back its plans for La Grange Place, and the price it would pay for the parkland, once and if the park district prevails in court.

The park district's claim that it has spent approximately $400,000 in legal costs battling the residents was raised on more than one occasion as commissioners wrestled with figures Thursday night.

Tim Kelpsas, president of the park board, said he had hoped the lawsuits would be resolved by that night's meeting. A trial in the hearing of the park district's latest petition had appeared likely to occur last month before Cook County Circuit Judge Susan Fox Gillis.

"The reason it [did] not is because the objectors continue to file delay after delay after delay," Kelpsas said.

In fact, while attorneys for the park district have often accused the residents' attorneys of delay tactics, the court has never acted on those complaints.

More important, the residents won the first two rounds in court.

In the current third round, a trial anticipated last month was postponed when the residents' attorneys filed a motion asking Judge Gillis to clarify the legal standards she would use in conducting the trial.  Instead of objecting to the motion, the park district's attorneys actually supported it.

A hearing scheduled for Aug. 4, at which Gillis was expected to respond to that motion, was postponed until Aug. 27 at the judge's request. In the meantime, the lead attorneys for both sides are out of town on vacation.

Despite the uncertain outcome of their legal situation, the commissioners said they are compelled to move forward with the renovation plans for the west side of Gordon Park.

Earlier this year, the park district was awarded a $400,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through its Open Space Land Acquisition & Development program—called OSLAD for short.

The grant money can be used only for the specific reasons it was requested: recreational amenities that are integral to the first-phase renovation of Gordon Park. These include a fenced and lighted soccer field, a splash pad, skating spot, butterfly garden and fitness stations along a walking path.

OSLAD only awards matching grants paid as reimbursements, so the park district must spend at least $800,000 before it can claim the $400,000 grant.

"Is it worth spending $1.3 million to get $400,000?" Ashby asked his fellow commissioners.

Combined, those two figures equal $1.7 million, significantly short of the $2.2 million budget the board was considering. But from among the many figures flying around the room that night, a consensus appeared to form around $1.7 million, give or take a little, as the project's low-end cost.

Achieving that goal could include trimming back some the planned amenities, said Dave Olson, co-president of W.B. Olson & Co of Northbrook, the firm that will manage the renovation construction. But nothing specifically mentioned in the OSLAD grant can be eliminated entirely.

Among the possible cuts already suggested in the budget document provided to commissioners was eliminating the water heater and recirculation system for the splash pad.

That would deliver an upfront savings of $108,000, said Jeff Braun, president of Cody Braun, the firm hired to handle the renovation planning and design.

But there also are backside costs in such a move, he said, and not just because children would have to play in chilly water. Not recirculating the water means the splash pad would use an estimated 500,000 gallons a month from municipal supplies at an approximate cost of $12,000 a year. 

Any significant reduction in the renovation costs are likely to come from the competitive bidding process, Olson said. Sub-contractors, anxious to secure good projects in a bad economy are likely to submit bids lower than usual.

"We are seeing 10 percent [reductions]," Olson said.

"How good are you at negotiating those bids?" Kelpsas asked.

Olson explained to Kelpsas that negotiation is not allowed in a competitive bidding scenario.

Was it OK to solicit bids without first approving a construction budget? one commissioner asked. That way the board could get better handle on the costs before committing to a budget.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Braun assured them.

Bissias said he would explore opportunities to obtain funding through additional grants, perhaps even a second one from OSLAD.

At one point, Kelpsas looked out at the audience members, who had sat patiently during the discussion, which lasted more than hour.

"Don't think we don't want to do this," he told them. "We really do. We've just got to find the money."

Read related story:

• Ashby steams over park sale objectors: "They stink"

Rich Port YMCA walls start coming down Tuesday

UPDATE, July 27: Demolition of the exterior structure of the Rich Port YMCA kept to its post-strike schedule as the bricks started falling Tuesday. If you were hoping the building would meet its demise by imploding into a cloud of smoke, you will be disappointed. YMCA officials chose the more cost-effective method of literally tearing it down. The process should be completed within a week.

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Demolition of the exterior structure of the vacant Rich Port YMCA is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Chris Ganschow, a spokesman for the Metropolitan YMCA of Chicago, said today.

Rich Port YMCA demolition progresses,
Aug. 14, 2010
Click photo for larger image

While removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials from the 62-year-old was completed last month, Ganschow said, a June 1 strike by heavy equipment operators from the Laborers’ District Council of Chicago and Vicinity and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 brought work at the site to a halt.

Following settlement of the strike this week, Chicago-based Heneghan Wrecking & Excavating Co. resumed its removal of some additional interior elements from the five-story structure.

The building's disappearance no doubt will be met with applause by residents and village officials, who have viewed the structure as an eyesore since the YMCA vacated it early in 2008.

Future use of the site is still uncertain, Ganschow said.

YMCA officials had a contract to sell the parcel to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP), which planned to build a major residential and commercial development on the site, a project known as La Grange Place. But that deal was dependent on the developer purchasing an adjoining 2.82-acre portion of Gordon Park from the Park District of La Grange.

Opposition to the sale of the parkland by various residents has tied up the Park District in Cook County Circuit Court for nearly three years.

Also, the collapse of the real estate market forced ARP to significantly downsize its plans for La Grange Place. Last November, when the developer attempted to forge a settlement that would end the legal battle, ARP President Richard Aaronson told YMCA officials that he would only complete purchase of the Rich Port parcel if the price were substantially reduced.

YMCA officials then walked away from the deal, saying that the revised offer would not provide sufficient funds to allow the organization to acquire property elsewhere in the area for a new facility.

The YMCA is now exploring all options for the future of the site, Ganschow said.

Judge 'cuts the guts out' of Gordon Park affidavits

UPDATE - June 1: The hearing scheduled for today was rescheduled for Friday, June 4, at the judge's request.

A Cook County judge last Friday struck from the record significant portions of testimony contained in 30 affidavits submitted by the Park District of La Grange in support of its latest petition to obtain court approval to sell 2.82 acres of Gordon Park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

Going over every affidavit paragraph by paragraph, and in some cases line by line, Circuit Court Judge Susan Fox Gillis removed almost every statement citing the anticipated benefits the sale would have, both in funding improvements to the remaining 14 acres of the park, and to the community as a whole.

In taking her action, Gillis referenced an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that was cited in a motion to dismiss the affidavits filed by attorneys for La Grange Friends of the Parks, a group of residents who are asking the court not to approve the Park District's sale petition.

Gillis said she agreed with the Friends' contention that “the affidavits boil down to general statements of support for the Park District’s case which are not evidentiary and should not be considered." Typically, a judge will not consider opinions unless they are offered by individuals whose expertise on a topic has been documented to her satisfaction.

In addition to affidavits prepared by Park District officials, the documents affected include those submitted by officials for the Village of La Grange, former La Grange Business Association President Michael LaPidus and other local businesspersons and residents, as well as those filed on behalf of the Illinois Park District Association, ARP President Richard Aaronson, and two landscape architects hired by the Park District.

But Judge Gillis did not stop there.

Although attorneys for the Park District did not formally request her to strike any of the eight affidavits submitted by the Friends, Gillis seized upon a footnote that the Park District included in one of its filings that reserves the right to make a similar motion at a later date.

The judge then proceeded to apply a red pen to the Friends affidavits, again striking almost all statements and, in some cases, single adjectives and adverbs, that Gillis said were opinions not facts, or in some cases too vague.

Left untouched by Gillis were two resolutions submitted by the village board of trustees and the District 102 school board, both of which support the sale and include many of the same subjective statements the judge struck from other affidavits.

Gillis said she would not edit the resolutions of those legislative bodies, but added that their statements may not be supported by facts.

"Personal knowledge is key, not personal conclusions," Gillis said.

Exactly where Gillis' action leaves the Park District in its effort to convince her of the merits of its petition is uncertain. When attorneys for the Park District subsequently asked Gillis what standards she would now apply in deciding the matter, the judge did not provide clear instruction.

"I’m cutting the guts out in most cases for both sides," the judge noted, suggesting that, in the event she sets a hearing for oral arguments, the parties' respective attorneys will face the burden of preparing strong, fact-based presentations on why—or why not—sale of the parkland is in the "public interest," the standard established in the Illinois Park District Code .

However, a full hearing may never take place should Gillis grant either of two opposing motions for summary judgment, one filed by each side last month. A decision on those motions is expected June 1.

If Gillis sides with the Friends, she may rule, as she did in June 2008 on an earlier sale petition submitted by the Park District, that the parkland in question exceeds three acres and is therefore outside the court's jurisdiction.

Park officials say the problem with the first petition—a vacated portion of Shawmut Ave, amounting to three-quarters of an acre, was included in the legal description, increasing the amount of parkland being sold to 3.5 acres—has been remedied by swapping the vacated roadway to the village in exchange for a parking lot on Locust Ave adjacent to Gordon Park.

But the Friends contend that the vacated roadway is still part of the deal because the swap only stays in place if the 2.82 acres of parkland is sold to ARP.

If Gillis buys that argument, the Park District may be forced to fall back on its alternative plan to sell the parkland under the authority of a public referendum held in November of that year.

Park District voters approved the sale referendum by a margin of 55 to 45 percent, but a subsequent auction in which developer ARP was the sole and successful bidder was voided by another Cook County judge, Leroy Martin Jr, who ruled in June 2009 that a level playing field did not exist because ARP had been granted favorable zoning by the village that did not apply to other potential bidders.

That ruling is currently being reviewed by the state appellate court.

A full hearing also may not be required if Gillis grants the Park District's motion for summary judgment and agrees with its contention that another Illinois Supreme Court ruling, Fields Jeep-Eagle v. Chrysler, bars the court from second-guessing a legislative body's reasons for determining what is in the "public interest."

If Gillis agrees with the Park District, however, Tom Beyer, one of three attorneys for the Friends, said they would ask the court to find unconstitutional the statute under which the Park District's petition was submitted, a result that occurred in the Fields case, but that Beyer said the Park District's attorneys have "conveniently ignored."

Beyer raised the issue of constitutionality in a motion filed with the court earlier this month, but Gillis declined to consider it at that time.

Even if the Park District is ultimately successful in obtaining court approval of its latest petition, there remains the question of whether ARP is still interested in purchasing the parkland.

ARP's Aaronson last November said that the currently distressed real estate  market will not support his company's plans for La Grange Place, its major residential and commercial redevelopment of the former YMCA Rich Port site and the adjoining park acreage, which was approved by village trustees in April 2008.

An effort by ARP to renegotiate its purchase price for the Rich Port parcel were rebuffed by YMCA officials, who in December said they would explore alternate plans for the site.

Last week, the YMCA announced it would demolish the five-story building on the site, which has sat vacant for the past three years, and is generally viewed as an eyesore.

YMCA finally confirms demolition plans for Rich Port

A contract to demolish the vacant Rich Port YMCA building has been awarded to Heneghan Wrecking Co. of Chicago, Chris Ganschow, a spokesman for the Metropolitan YMCA of Chicago, said this afternoon.

Heneghan "very shortly" will apply for a demolition permit from the Village of La Grange, Ganschow said.

The announcement follows by a week a public statement from Village President Elizabeth Asperger, who said demolition of the five-story Rich Port facility, which has stood vacant for more than three years, likely would begin following this year's Pet Parade, to be held June 5. Work would begin with removal of asbestos from the building and an underground fuel tank at the site, Asperger said.

During the past week, YMCA officials declined repeated requests to confirm its demolition plans, stating only that discussions with village officials were ongoing.

Heneghan's name surfaced Monday in a story published online by the Suburban Life newspaper, in which Patrick Benjamin, the village's director of community and economic development said YMCA officials were "reviewing a proposal" from the wrecking company, which has been in operation for more than 30 years.

Reached by phone this afternoon, Benjamin said YMCA officials told him last week a contract with Heneghan was in the hands of its general counsel. Benjamin also said he had been told expect a permit application for the demolition in time for work to begin in June, following approval of the permit.

Shortly after learning of Benjamin's remarks, Ganschow announced the contract.

Ganschow said the YMCA had no specific plans for the parcel once the site remediation was completed.

"We will listen to any good idea someone brings forward," Ganschow said.

At the time the YMCA vacated the Rich Port facility it had a contract to sell the parcel to Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP), who planned to handle the demolition and construct a major residential and commercial project, known as La Grange Place, on the site.

But ARP's plan, approved by the village board in Spring 2008, was thwarted by legal action from residents opposed to the sale of 2.82 acres of Gordon Park, which ARP hoped to include in the project.

Asked if YMCA officials would consider building a new facility of its own on the site, Ganschow said that no options had been ruled out.

Former Rich Port YMCA building to be razed in June

UPDATED May 18:  After a week of evasion, YMCA officials today finally confirmed their plans to demolish the vacant Rich Port facility. Click here for details.

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After sitting vacant for more than three years, the former Rich Port YMCA has a date with the wrecking ball.

Demolition of the five-story structure is scheduled to begin in early June, La Grange President Elizabeth Asperger said in her opening remarks at Monday night's village board meeting.

The former Rich Port YMCA building will be torn down in June Click photo for larger image

"Our staff is working with officials from the Metropolitan YMCA, and we understand that work should begin after the Pet Parade (June 5)," Asperger said. "It will begin with asbestos and fuel tank removal and, following that, demolition of the building."

The YMCA moved out the building early in 2007, relocating its recreation and day-care programs to a temporary facility on 31st St in La Grange, after negotiating a sale of the Rich Port parcel to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

YMCA officials at that time said they intended to use the proceeds from the sale to purchase land elsewhere in the area on which to build a new facility.

In September of that same year, ARP announced plans to construct La Grange Place, a major residential and commercial development, on the site and an adjoining 2.82 acres of Gordon Park, which the Park District of La Grange in July had agreed to sell to ARP.

But legal challenges raised by residents opposed to the sale of parkland so far have thwarted the deal.

Last November, ARP announced that it was significantly downscaling its redevelopment plans in response to deteriorating conditions in the real estate market brought about by the recession that engulfed the nation in 2008.

A subsequent attempt by ARP to renegotiate its purchase price for the Rich Port parcel prompted YMCA officials to withdraw from the sale. The revised sum offered by ARP was insufficient to proceed with plans to buy land for their new facility, they said.

Rumors have circulated recently that YMCA officials are giving thought to building the new facility on the Rich Port parcel.

Judge ready to rule on latest Gordon Park sale petition, but action is at least a month away

The judge hearing the latest petition from the Park District of La Grange to sell a portion of Gordon Park to a developer today said she is ready to make her ruling, but that action will not occur until mid-May at the earliest.

At a status hearing held this morning in Cook County Circuit Court, Judge Susan Fox Gillis told attorneys for both the Park District and a group of residents who oppose the sale that she had spent the weekend reading motions for summary judgment that each side had recently filed with the court.

"I think I can rule on this rather quickly," Gillis said, without having to entertain additional arguments from either side.

But the judge acquiesced to a request from Tom Beyer, an attorney for the residents group, La Grange Friends of the Parks (LGFP) that both sides be allowed to file written responses to each others' judgment motions. Responses should be part of the court record in the event the losing party chooses to appeal the ruling, Beyer told the judge.

"They [Park District attorneys] took 40 days to write this thing," Beyer said, referring to a 34-page memorandum supporting the Park District motion, whose length required special dispensation that Gillis granted just last Thursday. Beyer asked for two weeks to prepare a response.

"Just because someone has talked for 34 pages doesn't mean they have said anything," Gillis quipped. But she cautioned the attorneys not to take her comment as any indication of how she might rule.

Gillis scheduled the next status hearing for May 10 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 704 of the Daley Center in Chicago.

In the motion filed on behalf of the LGFP, Beyer and co-counsels Mark Wohlberg and Joan Johnson argued that the sale petition should be dismissed because the amount of parkland involved in the sale still exceeded three acres, the maximum sale the court can approve under the Illinois Park District Code.

Gillis in June 2008 dismissed an earlier petition presented by the Park District on similar grounds, ruling that the legal description contained in the sales contract included a vacated portion of Shawmut Ave that adjoined the 2.82 acres the Park District proposed to sell to Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

Attorneys for the Park District, Robert Bush and John Shapiro, in their motion argued that the inclusion of the vacated roadway was an error that has subsequently been corrected with a land swap executed in Nov. 2008, whereby the Park District gave the .7-acre vacated roadway to the Village of La Grange in exchange for a village-owned parcel of similar size adjoining Gordon Park along Locust Ave.

But LGFP attorneys contend the roadway is still part of the transaction because both the sales contract with ARP and the land swap agreement contain language linking the two deals. If either one falls apart, the other does as well.

The LGFP motion also argues that the reasons cited by the Park District board of commissioners in declaring the parkland no longer useful or needed are flawed. Further, it contends that the propose sale violates the Public Trust Doctrine, which states that land dedicated for use by the general public cannot be disposed of casually.

In their motion, Park District attorneys argue that the reasons commissioners cited in determining that the parkland was no longer needed are outside the jurisdiction of the court.

While the Park District Code states that the court must decide whether or not the sale is in the public interest, Park District attorneys argue that the court's focus is confined to the outcome of the transaction and cannot include the legislative process itself, which they claim is privileged. The only exception, they said, would be if the commissioners' action was "arbitrary and capricious," which is not the case, they said.

Affidavits submitted with the Park District's motion include resolutions from the Village of La Grange and School District 102, along with statements from numerous local officials and businesspersons supporting the sale. Many of the some 27 affidavits express belief that the loss of a 2.82 acres of parkland is far outweighed by improvements to facilities in the remaining portion of Gordon Park that the sale will afford, and by redevelopment of the parkland and the adjoining former Rich Port YMCA parcel.

Park District attorneys also note that voters approved the sale of the parkland by a 55 to 45 percent margin in a Nov. 2008 referendum.

That successful referendum authorized the Park District to attempt to sell the same 2.82 acres of parkland at a public auction, which it held in Jan. 2009. But in a separate lawsuit brought by La Grange resident Orlando Coryell, another circuit court judge, Leroy Martin Jr., voided the sale when ARP emerged as the sole and winning bidder. Martin ruled that the Park District's pre-existing contract with ARP, and special zoning it received from the village for its planned redevelopment of the Rich Port Y site, and the adjoining the park acreage, gave the developer an unfair advantage over other potential bidders. That ruling is being appealed by the Park District.

Beyer this morning told Judge Gillis he intends to file a motion to strike most of Park District's affidavits related to its latest petition on the grounds that their conclusions are based on beliefs not facts.

Beyer later noted that the redevelopment of the Rich Port Y site is no longer a certainty as ARP has said the current economic recession has forced it to significantly downsize its plans for La Grange Place, a major mixed residential and commercial that would have been the largest private development project in the history of the village.

An attempt last November by ARP to renegotiate its purchase price for the Rich Port parcel was rejected by YMCA officials, who said the reduced offer was "insufficient" to allow them to proceed with plans to acquire land elsewhere in the area on which to build a new facility.

Here are links to view PDF copies of...

• La Grange Friends of the Parks motion for summary judgment
• Park District of La Grange motion for summary judgment
• Memorandum in support of Park District motion

State grant will allow Park District to proceed with its plans for redevelopment of Gordon Park

The Park District of La Grange has been awarded a grant of $400,000 from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) program, Dean Bissias, the Park District's executive director, said today.

The money will be used to construct several new amenities in Gordon Park including a picnic area, splash pad and soccer field.

Bissias said he learned of the award at last month's conference of the Illinois Association of Park Districts.

An OSLAD grant must be matched with funds from other sources and must be spent within three years of the award, he said.

The Park District in 2007 announced plans to pay for its redevelopment of Gordon Park with $4.6 million in cash and other considerations it expected to receive from the sale of 2.82 acres of the park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

The developer in turn intended to incorporate the park acreage into its redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA site, a major mixed-use residential and commercial project known as La Grange Place.

But sale of the acreage has been blocked by legal action taken by residents who are opposed to the loss of parkland.

Bissias said use of the OSLAD money is not constrained by the ongoing lawsuits. He hopes that work on the redevelopment of the park will begin later this year.

While $400,000 won't come close to paying for all the amenities included in its master plan for Gordon Park, it enables the Park District to begin work on some key amenities, Bissias said.

When asked how the construction of amenities could proceed without first laying down fill dirt the district hoped to obtain from ARP in order to raise the level of the park and improve drainage, Bissias said that clean fill was available from other sources.

Related story:

• Township board funds $508,000 in Denning Park improvements from bonds voters approved in 2004

Kelpsas apologizes to Citizens Council for supporters' attacks during last year's Park District elections

Park District of La Grange Board President Tim Kelpsas last week apologized to the La Grange Citizens Council for attacks on the organization made by his supporters during last year's Park District election.

"If I have offended you, or anyone in this room, I apologize," Kelpsas told Council Member Rob Pierson, who raised the issue Feb. 10 during a question-and-answer session following a presentation by Kelpsas and Executive Director Dean Bissias regarding the role and operations of the Park District.

Citizens Council Member Rob Pierson told Tim Kelpsas that attacks on the group last year by his supporters were offensive and unwarranted.

Pierson recalled letters published in local newspapers and other communications accusing the Citizens Council of deliberately withholding an endorsement of Kelpsas' re-election bid because of undue influence from its then-chairman, Orlando Coryell, who at the time was actively suing the Park District to prevent the sale of a portion of Gordon Park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

Watch the video at the end of this story to witness the entire exchange between Kelpsas, Pierson and other Citizens Council members.

"It came as a shock to see the blowback from people whom I would view as friendly to the [Park District] commissioners, to see a concerted effort made by some of those people to paint the Citizens Council in a negative light simply because you weren't slated," Pierson told Kelpsas. "That's how it was perceived by a lot of people in this room. The reason you weren't slated is because Orlando had this ongoing feud with the Park District board. You just need to know that was not the case."

Pierson said the lawsuit was never discussed in any of the Council meetings leading up to and including its slating session. 

Pierson added that he personally supported the Park District's efforts to sell land from Gordon Park. "I'm definitely not an Orlando apologist," he said, drawing a chuckle from Kelpsas.

Kelpsas acknowledged that some of the people who made the accusations against the Council were affiliated with the Park District and its successful effort to convince district voters in Nov. 2008 to approve by a margin of 55 to 45 perent a referendum authorizing the sale of 2.82 acres of Gordon Park.

Coryell's lawsuit blocked sale of the land to ARP when Cook County Circuit Court Judge Leroy Martin Jr. voided the required public auction that followed the referendum, ruling that ARP, and its La Grange Place redevelopment project proposed for the former Rich Port YMCA site, had been given preferential treatment by the Park District and the Village of La Grange.

But Kelpsas denied that his re-election campaign organization was responsible for the actions of those individuals attacking Coryell and the Council. 

"[We] did not organize anybody to detract from the integrity of this organization," Kelpsas said. "As a matter of fact, I received multiple phone calls from lots of  influential people in the village that specifically asked me not to.

"I was specifically counseled by a number of people not to hurt this organization, and I personally never did," Kelpsas said. "At least, I don't think I did."

Another Council member in attendance, Tim O'Connell, defended Kelpsas. "I think it's a pretty easy leap for the people who made those accusations, with the leader of the Citizens Council leading the litigation,'" he said. "I can see both sides of the story. It wasn't just the Park District firing the ammo there, I don't think."

"I wasn't firing any ammo," Kelpsas insisted. "I think Orlando acted as a great lightning rod for that controversy ... once it came out that he was suing the Park District, and was also chairman of the slating body that was going to pick candidates."

But Kelpsas also empathized with Pierson's concerns, noting that "it makes me crazy when the public ... crafts an assumption and then runs with it."

Kelpsas said that during the park-sale referendum campaign in 2008, some residents attacked him for supporting ARP's redevelopment plans, wrongly believing that housing in the project would be marketed to tenants they considered undesirable. 

"There were people who ran up to me and asked, 'How could you have voted for that? I don't want people moving in that I don't like,'" Kelpsas recalled. "[They] crafted asssumptions that offended me greatly, that were very racist.

"The rumors that start don't make me very happy at all because I would rather have people basing their judgments and the way they execute their values on the veracity of the situation," Kelpsas said.

"So again, my apologies," he said. "I never fired any ammo in that direction."

Related story & video:

• Park sale supporter caps tirade aimed at objectors with vulgar taunts at a former park commissioner

Village trustees mull taking more proactive role in redevelopment of former Rich Port YMCA site

The La Grange village board of trustees last week agreed to extend its Gordon Park land swap agreement with the Park District of La Grange. The agreement to trade a village-owned parking lot abutting the park for a vacated stretch of Shawmut Ave, which is to be paved and improved to serve the redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA site under a plan approved by trustees in April 2008, was set to expire Dec. 31, and ownership of the properties revert, because developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) has not yet begun construction on its major mixed-use project, known as La Grange Place.

Village trustees unanimously approved a one-year extension of the agreement, which already had been extended for 30 days by Village Manager Bob Pilipiszyn. They did so without any discussion by placing the item on their omnibus agenda, usually reserved for pro forma action on routine items such as monthly disbursements, thereby passing up an opportunity to share with its televised-meeting audience their views on the uncertain future of the Y site redevelopment resulting from a controversial legal battle over the sale of parkland to ARP for inclusion in its project and a decision in December by Y officials to terminate their sales agreement with the developer after ARP substantially reduced the dollar amount of its purchase offer to reflect the downsized project it now seeks to build given a significant downturn in the real estate market, and the nation's economy, since the original contract was signed three years ago.

Perhaps the village board's silence stems from the fact that trustees already had expressed their views on the matter during a weekend strategic planning retreat they attended Jan. 8-9 at the conference center operated by Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital.

During a portion of the retreat in which more than two dozen short-term goals were identified and enumerated, trustees indicated they may take a far more proactive role regarding the Y site than had previously been publicly considered.

Watch the video below to see and hear that discussion.

Village staff is now preparing recommendations and action items related to all of the goals set at the planning retreat, Andrianna Peterson, assistant village manager, said last week.

The village board will consider those recommendations at a special public workshop to be held in the next four to six weeks, Village President Liz Asperger said at last week's regular meeting.