La Grange Today

Citizens Council again extends candidates deadline

The Citizens’ Council of La Grange has for a second time extended its deadline for accepting applications from candidates for local public office who seek the council's endorsement, Katie Justak, the council's chairperson, announced in an email press release issued late Wednesday night.

The new deadline is 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31.

Candidates for the boards of the village, library or park district who wish to be interviewed by the Citizens' Council can download an application from the council’s website, lgcitizenscouncil.org, Justak said.

“Part of the Council’s mission is to recruit, evaluate, select and recommend candidates to the voters,” Justak said. “To fulfill this mission, we want to recruit enough qualified candidates for all open seats. This situation is not unprecedented and we look forward to receiving more applications by our final deadline.”

Both the village and library boards have three seats that will be filled in a public election to be held next April; two seats will be filled on the park district board.

So far, Justak said, the council has received applications from the following individuals:

Village Board: Mark Kuchler (incumbent) and Jeffrey Nowak

Library Board: Caroline Coryell (incumbent) and Bridgette O’Connor

Park District Board: Mary Ellen Penicook (incumbent), Brad Belcaster (incumbent) and Lynn Lacey

The council has scheduled public interviews for library board candidates on Wednesday, Nov. 10; park district board candidates on Wednesday, Dec. 1; and village board candidates on Wednesday, Dec. 8.

All interviews will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the La Grange Village Hall auditorium.

Park board hears pitch for community agriculture

Should the Park District of La Grange designate some of its land for community supported agriculture, possibly on one of the parcels in Gordon Park it is trying to sell?

At least two park commissioners—Brad Belcaster and Chris Walsh—think it is an idea worth exploring after hearing a pitch on the concept Oct. 21 from resident Kheir Fakhreldin.

Watch a video Fakhreldin's pitch and the board's discussion below.

Community supported agriculture, CSA for short, "is a system where people pay in a certain amount of money at the beginning of a growing season, and then they [receive] shares of vegetables and fruits that are grown in the garden throughout the growing season," Fakhreldin said.

The concept differs from a traditional community garden where participants are assigned individual plots in which to grow crops for their own use. CSA shareowners may choose to get involved in tending the garden, but it is not a requirement.

Fakhreldin, who was raised in La Grange, recently returned home after pursuing studies in Michigan, where he became familiar with the CSA concept.

He said he hoped his pitch to the park commissioners  would "plant a seed, literally as well as metaphorically, for a land use that [the park district] might not have considered."

Fakhreldin cited a one local CSA already operating at the Field Park School in Western Springs, which was featured in an Oct. 18 story in The Doings newspaper.

La Grange park commissioners offered no immediate response as Fakhreldin offered his suggestion during a period allotted for public comment shortly after the start of the board's regular meeting.

But at the end of the two-hour meeting, during a period reserved for commissioner comments and after Fakhreldin had left the meeting, Belcaster said he thought the idea of a CSA might have merit.

Belcaster said Fakhreldin was the second La Grange resident from whom he had recently been approached with the idea of the park district hosting a CSA project. The first was a man who told Belcaster about being involved in a community garden along with both his son and his father.

The idea of three generations working together on a common project was "just a neat thing for them to spend time together," Belcaster said. "I think it might be something that we should take a look at."

Walsh said he also supported exploring a CSA project for the park district, while admitting he had not been immediately keen to the idea when Fakhreldin proposed it.

"There are plenty of community supported agriculture outlets that [already] are available to people who live in La Grange," Walsh said, adding that he was a shareowner in a CSA group that received weekly deliveries of fresh produce from a farm outside of the village.

But, Walsh acknowledged, "it's also nice actually doing the growing, not just doing the purchasing and consuming. I'm starting to come around to that."

He said there were several parcels of vacant land in the village that might be appropriate for a garden, some owned by the park district and others by third parties who also might be willing to participate.

Walsh noted that the earlier in the meeting the commissioners had postponed renovations planned for Gordon Park, due to a lack of funds pending the sale of two parcels from the park.

"We have the opportunity to potentially use some space there for a bounded time period," Walsh said. "Maybe it's something we ought to consider."

Discussion concluded with the board directing its executive director, Dean Bissias, to conduct further research on the idea.

Neither referendum results nor public survey were a factor in judge's approval of Gordon Park sale

Ever since voters in a Nov. 2008 referendum approved a proposal by the Park District of La Grange to sell 2.82 acres of Gordon Park by a margin of 55 to 45 percent, district officials and their supporters have pointed to the referendum as "overwhelming" proof that the public backed the sale and the use the its proceeds to renovate the remaining 14 acres of Gordon Park.

But in the eyes of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Susan Fox Gillis, who last Friday approved the sale, the referendum was merely an expression of opinion not fact. Consequently, the referendum results were not allowed into evidence during the four-day trial. Gillis labeled them "irrelevant" and similarly disallowed resolutions passed by the La Grange village board of trustees and District 102 school board that also supported the sale and its perceived benefits.

Also, a public survey commissioned by the Park District earlier this year, and conducted by Public Research Group (PRG) of Naperville, never made it into evidence either.

The survey found that only 27 percent of the district's residents supported spending momey to renovate Gordon Park. Helping to finance the planned renovation of the ball fields and providing other recreational amenities was the primary reason cited in court by Park District Attorney Rob Bush for selling the 2.82 acres, which comprise the northwest panhandle of the park.

While Gillis was certainly aware of the referendum and the resolutions, it is uncertain whether she was familiar with the survey findings, detailed in a 60-page report prepared by PRG.

It was submitted to the court by Bush just a couple weeks ago, when the judge was out of town, so late in the process leading up to the trial that Bush failed to include one of the report's authors, David Emanuelson of PRG, on his witness list.

Consequently, and somewhat ironically, Bush's oversight allowed both Emanuelson's planned testimony and the survey report to be quashed by an objection from Tom Beyer, one of the attorneys for the La Grange Friends of the Park, a group of residents that opposed the parkland sale. Beyer persuaded Gillis to disallow both.

Beyer later explained his action, saying that while the findings in the report may have supported his group's contention that the sale was not in the puiblic interest, he could not risk having Emanuelsom take the stand without knowing in advance the entire scope of his planned testimony.

As a result, Gillis made her final determination in support of the Park District without having to formally consider the referendum and survey, the only two statistical, albeit contradicting, indicators of public support for the issue before her.

Read these related stories:

• Court approves sale of Gordon Park parcels
• Only 27 percent of residents support renovation of Gordon Park, according to Park District's own survey

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.

Ball field puddles take center stage in first day of testimony in hearing on proposed Gordon Park sale

Testimony from four of the five witnesses who appeared on behalf of the Park District of La Grange in Cook County Circuit Court today focused on the often unplayable condition of Gordon Park's baseball fields following rainstorms.

In making a case for the Park District's petition to sell two from the northwest corner of Gordon Park, comprising 2.82 acres, attorney Rob Bush told Judge Susan Fox Gillis that the proceeds from the sale are needed to fund a long overdue renovation of the park's recreational facilities.

Tom Cushing, current president of the La Grange Little League, and Tim Farnan, league president from 2007-08, testified that the accumulation of rainwater on the two southernmost ball fields forced the cancellation of numerous games in recent years.

Cushing said that the problem was so chronic that the league this year relocated its entire girls softball schedule to a ball field at the Spring Ave School.

Tom Shannon, a lifelong La Grange resident and attorney, testified that he had monitored the often flooded conditions of the Gordon Park ball fields during his daily train commute to his office in downtown Chicago.

Kate Brogan testified that half of her daughter's softball games at Gordon Park had been canceled due to water accumulating on the fields.

A fifth witness, Don Robertson, a local board member of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), testified that the league had played games on various fields at Gordon Park but that none offered optimal conditions. He said a new regulation-size field the Park District plans to build there would be welcomed by the league.

Robertson also testified that AYSO had for several years played games on a field on one of the two parcels the Park District is seeking to sell. But he said that play was encumbered by a slope in the landscape that caused balls kicked off the field to roll away downhill.

Tom Beyer, one of three attorneys representing La Grange Friends of the Park, a group of some 20 residents who oppose the sale of the 2.82 acres, objected to much of the testimony of all five witnesses, which largely addressed conditions on the portion of Gordon Park that the Park District intends to keep and improve, not the two parcels it wants to sell.

Beyer argued that under the statute invoked by the Park District, it bore the burden of convincing the court that the 2.82 acres it wants to sell is no longer needed or useful as parkland.

What the Park District would due with any proceeds from a sale was irrelevant, Beyer said.

Bush noted that the Park District had cited in its application several reasons why maintaining the 2.82 acres was a burden, but argued that there was a "rational relationship" in selling a relatively small portion of the park in order to significantly improve the facilities on what parkland remained.

Judge Gillis overruled Beyer's objection, stating that she intended to give both sides wide latitude in their presentation of testimony and evidence. She noted that the proceedings were a bench trial, where no jury was involved, and that she reserved the right to later ignore testimony that she deemed immaterial.

Gillis also denied a motion from the Friends' attorneys made immediately prior to the trial to dismiss the Park District's amended application.

The amendment, presented by Bush in a motion as the day's first order of business and accepted by Gillis, would, if the judge eventually approves the application, allow the Park District to sell the land to any potential buyer. The petition originally named developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) as the intended purchaser of the parcels.

Beyer argued that selling the two park parcels to anyone other than ARP would cause the reversion of a land swap between the Park District and the Village of La Grange, involving a vacated portion of Shawmut Ave that had previously been attached to the parcels.

In that event, Beyer said, the amount of land comprised by the two parcels would amount to 3.5 acres, not 2.82. As the statute only allows the court to directly approve the sale of three acres or less, the court would not have jurisdiction, he said.

With the land swap likely out of the picture, Beyer argued, the judge now faced a situation identical to the one presented by the Park District in a prior application it filed with the court in 2007.

In a hearing on that petition, Gillis eventually ruled that the amount of land described in the legal description of a sales contract between the Park District and ARP was, without the land swap having yet occurred, indeed 3.5 acres and beyond the court's jurisdiction.

Regarding the latest petition, however, Gillis said its legal description specifically excludes vacated Shawmut Ave and noted that the land swap was still in force, although it will expire on Dec. 31 unless ARP takes title to the land and puts a shovel in the ground.

Gillis did not state how she would address a reversion of the land swap if she were to approve the sale of the parkland to a purchaser other than ARP.

Amending the Park District's petition also opened the door for residents other than those comprising the Friends to address the court with their objections to the sale.

When Gillis asked if any such objectors were present, six individuals stepped forward. They were identified as Fred Metzger, Gwyn Jones, Gary Lundin, Ann Kleboe and two others whose names could not be confirmed at the time this story was written. All said they resided within the boundaries of the Park District.

Gillis listened patiently to all their objections, which were similar if not always identical to those contained in filings on behalf of the Friends.

The trial is scheduled to continue this morning at 10 a.m. in Rm.1706 of the Daley Center in Chicago with the Park District presenting additional testimony. Among the witnesses expected to take the stand are ARP President Richard Aaronson and former Park District Commissioner and President Rob Metzger.

Only 27 percent of residents support renovation of Gordon Park, according to Park District's own survey

Only 27 percent of residents support renovating Gordon Park, according to a survey of households conducted for the Park District of La Grange by the Public Research Group (PRG) of Naperville.

The finding is among the results of a mail and telephone survey that PRG conducted this past spring in its preparation of a comprehensive master plan that Park District officials will use to determine spending priorities for programs and capital projects over the next five years.

A 60-page report produced by PRG that describes the study and its findings in detail has been posted on the Park District website.

Renovation of Gordon Park was included in the survey among a list of 11 capital projects for which respondents were asked to indicate their support or lack thereof. 

While Gordon Park tied with expanding the Recreation Center as the top vote-getter, both fell significantly short of a twelfth choice on the list: Do Nothing, which was supported by 43 percent of the respondents.

In a second list selection offered in the survey, respondents were asked to indicate their support for various proposed amenities.

For nearly all of the amenities specifically included in an existing master plan for Gordon Park, support was notably less than that expressed for the renovation overall: Walking/biking paths (35%), slashpad (23%), fitness stations (22%), band shell (14%), flower beds and landscaping (14%), soccer field with natural grass (10%).

The amenity garnering the most support was an outdoor swimming pool (43%). There are no current plans for a swimming pool anywhere in the district.

The results of PRG's survey may prove problematic for the Park District's attorneys who, in a Cook County circuit court hearing scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, are likely to continue their argument that selling 2.82 acres of Gordon Park for private development is necessary to fund a multi-million-dollar renovation of Gordon Park whose plans already have reached the point of soliciting bids for construction.

The hearing before Judge Susan Fox Gillis will determine if it is in the public interest for the Park District to dispose of the 2.82 acres, consisting of two parcels of parkland directly north of the former Rich Port YMCA site.

Under a provision of the Illinois Park District Code, a circuit court judge can directly approve the sale of parkland if the amount is less than three acres. The statute also requires that the land no longer be needed or useful for park purposes.

In a resolution adopted Sept. 20, the La Grange park district board 0f commissioners emphasized the link between the the sale of parkland and the renovation of Gordon Park.

"[T]here is a rational relationship between the proposed sale [...] and the generation of revenue to support the proposed improvements for Gordon Park."

Park District officials and residents who support using the sale proceeds to pay for the renovation, often have pointed to a Nov. 2008 referendum as evidence that a majority of residents agree with them.

In that now two-year-old referendum, district voters approved the sale by a margin of 55 to 45 percent.

The very current PRG study, on the other hand, indicates that, for whatever reasons, renovation of Gordon Park no longer enjoys a plurality of support.

In its report, PRG states that the methodology of its survey—it received 447 completed surveys by mail and conducted 147 telephone surveys—is solid.

"The mail and telephone findings are generalizeable to the entire population of Park District of La Grange residents within a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5% at a 95% confidence level because the samples were substantially large and randomly selected," the report said. "The mail and telephone surveys, therefore, represent the most valid findings of the public needs assessment data gathering process."

PRG noted that it also conducted a parallel "website and office" survey, in which the same questionnaire used in the mail and telephone survey was posted on the Park District website and also could be accessed via a public terminal installed in the lobby of the Recreation Center. PRG also emailed survey invitations to everyone subscribing to the Park District's email blasts.

Of the 127 completed responses obtained through those channels, a slightly higher number (30%) supported renovating Gordon Park.

Because the respondents in the parallel survey were "self-selected, not randomly selected," the results "are not generalizable to the entire population of the residents of the Park District," the report said.

Video: Citizens Council hosts Gordon Park forum

A hearing on the merits of the Park District of La Grange's latest petition to sell 2.82 acres of Gordon Park is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in Cook County Circuit Court. The public is welcome to attend.

But those persons unable to attend can watch a video of a forum on the topic held Sept. 8 by the La Grange Citizens Council.

In the video, Tom Beyer, an attorney for the La Grange Friends of the Parks, a group of residents who oppose the sale, describes the legal issues involved, explains the Friends' positions and takes questions from the audience.

Admittedly, it is a one-sided presentation. The Park District was asked to participate but declined the invitation.

Click the image below to watch the video.

Permits were overlooked in 1999 when Gordon Park drainage system was installed, resident claims

UPDATED - Sept. 21, 6 pm: Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn, when asked to comment on Hirt's findings, today issued the following statement:

"The Park District has made application to us to renovate Gordon Park. We intend to address some housekeeping matters as it relates to easements and the like, through that review process. We appreciate that Mr. Hirt has brought some of these matters to our attention. We also look forward to a redeveloped Gordon Park!"

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The Park District of La Grange failed to obtain necessary permits from the village and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) when it installed a new drainage field in Gordon Park in 1999, according to a La Grange resident.

Harlan Hirt, a retired civil engineer and member of the village's environmental quality control commission, said neither the village nor MWRD could produce copies of the required permits in response to request he filed under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Hirt also claims that water drained from Gordon Park is going directly and illegally into the MWRD's Deep Tunnel reservoir via a connection near the water tower at the park's south end.

Hirt said his findings are based on research involving a map of the village sewer system, plans prepared for the park district in 1999 prior to installation of the drainage field and firsthand inspections in the park.

Now retired, Hirt, 70, was employed for 37 years as an engineer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Among the EPA projects he was worked on was an environmental impact statement for the Deep Tunnel.  

Hirt brought the matter to the attention of the park board at its regular meeting Sept. 16, at which time he provided them with a written summary of his findings.

At Monday night's special board meeting, park commissioners thanked Hirt for bringing the matter to their attention and said they would investigate.

Its unclear what impact Hirt's findings might have on the park district's plans for a major renovation of Gordon Park.

The park district is in the process of soliciting construction bids for the renovation. However, a first round of bids was rejected by the park board Monday night after it was determined that inadequate legal notice had been provided.

The two southernmost baseball fields at Gordon Park have been plagued by flooding in recent years and are a major reason cited by the park board for undertaking the renovation.

Hirt said that his study determined that flooding on the ballfields is the result of improper crowning and poor maintenance, noting that the outfields do not have that problem.

Hirt is a member of La Grange Friends of the Parks, a group of residents that is fighting the park district in court over plans to sell a portion of Gordon Park to a developer. But Hirt said his study and findings are unrelated to that effort.

Gordon Park renovation bids scrapped because park district did not provide adequate legal notice

The Park District of La Grange board of commissioners at a special meeting Monday night voted to reject all construction bids it received last week related to the planned renovation of Gordon Park after determining that it failed to provide proper legal notice when soliciting the bids.

Commissioners then directed Executive Director Dean Bissias begin the bid solicitation process anew.

Bissias said the problem with the initial round of bids arose when a legal notice he placed in the Suburban Life newspaper was published Sept. 8, only seven days before the bids were opened last Wednesday.

The Illinois Park District Code requires "at least one public notice at least 10 days before the bid date in a newspaper published in the district or, if no newspaper is published in the district, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the district."

Bissias said that the notice was provided to the newspaper with instructions that it be published on both Sept. 1 and 8. He said he did know why the first publication date was missed.

An identical notice provided to the Daily Herald was published in a timely manner, Bissias said. But that newspaper is not "published in the district" and therefore did not satisfy the law.

Bissias said the error was brought to his attention by Kevin Shields, a former park commissioner.

Park Board President Mary Ellen Penicook Monday night publicly thanked Shields for doing so.

The board also thanked resident Harlan Hirt for alerting them to the likelihood that the park district in 1999 failed to obtain necessary permits from the Village of La Grange and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District when it installed a new drainage system at Gordon Park.

Shields and Hirt both are members of La Grange Friends of the Parks, a group of residents that is fighting the park district in court over plans to sell a portion of Gordon Park to a developer.

Both men said their recent actions are unrelated to their opposition the proposed sale.

Attorney for residents opposing Gordon Park sale will present their case, answer questions at Weds forum

If you have been wondering why various residents have spent nearly three years in a legal battle with the Park District of La Grange over efforts to sell a portion of Gordon Park to a developer, you may find some answers Wednesday night at a forum hosted by the La Grange Citizens Council.

Tom Beyer, a La Grange resident and one of three attorneys representing the Friends of La Grange Parks, a group of some 20 residents who oppose the park district's latest petition to have a Cook County Circuit Court judge approve the sale, will make a presentation and answer questions.

Mary Ellen Penicook, the newly appointed president of the park district's board of commissioners, declined an invitation to participate and share the park district's perspective, Katie Justak, chairperson of the citizens council, said.

An attempt to reach Penicook for comment was unsuccessful.

The forum will be held in the Village Hall auditorium as part of the council's regular monthly meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will also be an opportunity for residents to join the citizens council in order to participate in its endorsement later this year of candidates seeking election to the village board of trustees, park district board of commissioners and library board.