Board Meeting: Declassified 2010 Minutes Show Lawsuit Threat from Pleasantview

In a special vote held Monday, the Western Springs Board of Trustees voted to release a portion of their minutes from one of last year’s private executive sessions. The newly-released minutes show that the Pleasantview Fire Protection District had threatened to sue to Village over disagreements over disconnection fees related to the Timber Trails annexation.

According to the minutes, taken from an executive session held on May 24 of 2010, the Village and the PFPD had a dispute over whether to use 2004 or 2006 property-tax assessments to calculate the amount owed by the Village to the PFPD. The disconnection fee was related to income lost to the PFPD when Timber Trails was annexed.

Ultimatley, the Village decided to send a $21,000 check—the amount owed based on 2004 numbers. It is unclear if the threat of litigation was resolved through this action.

An additional segment of the minutes from that meeting, titled “pending litigation,” has been redacted in full. The Board has held multiple additional executive sessions in the past year for the purpose of discussing “litigation,” the minutes of which are still classified.

Another notable event from the meeting came in the form of a request from President William Rodeghier for the Board to adopt a resolution officially opposing any effort by the Illinois government to cut allowances from the state Local Government Distributive Fund.

Rodeghier said that, if a resolution currently before the state legislature passes, the Village could lose $150,000 this year and $300,000 annually subsequently, resulting in a corresponding loss of services to Village residents.

“We have, in the face of difficult times, taken the steps we had to in order to pay for [services,]” Rodeghier said. “I don’t want to throw rocks, [but] I can’t say the same about Springfield… It does not seem fair to me.

“We’ve done our part and controlled our expenses. They have ignored what they should have done and put it off on us.”

There was no opposition voiced to the recommended resolution, and it was scheduled for the voting meeting later this month on May 23rd. That meeting will also serve as a public hearing for a proposal to sell a right-of-way on the 4900 block of Lawn Avenue.

Director of Recreation Tracy Alden announced that the Kaleidoscope Children’s Center will soon be leaving their single room in the Western Springs Recreation Center. Kensington School will be adding the room to their current space.

Trustee Susanne Glowiak reminded residents that the police department will be kicking off another summer of railway-safety education, and also recommended that anyone interested check out the fire department’s 2010 EMS report on the Village Website. Glowiak also raised that the week of May 15th is National Police Week, and flags may be flown at half-mast on Monday the 15th in honor of peace officers’ sacrifices.

And Trustee Janet Dahl announced that the Village will be formally instituting an “identity protection policy with regard to the collection, use, disclosure and protection of individuals social security numbers,” in response to recent incidents of identity theft. The measure passed on the special omnibus vote.

Also approved was a resolution allowing fences bordering land zoned “municipal and government land district” (MGL) to be built up to eight feet, two higher than the ordinary six. MGL as a zoning classification was created in 2009 by the Village to accommodate the new fire station and to reclassify other existing buildings.

The roadwork scheduled to be done on Burlington Avenue will be done with financial partnership from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Additionally, a new sidewalk will be constructed on the north side of 53rd Street between Lawn Avenue and Wolf Road—outside the First Presbyterian Church of Western Springs.

At the end of the meeting, the Board once again regressed into executive session to discuss “pending litigation.”