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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/30/1990 CS minutes .~ MAYOR l.J:lALO L FARLEY TAUS'o.:ES RALPH W. AHTHUR MARK w. BUSSE TIMOTHY J. CORCORAN LEO FLOROS GEORGE R. VAN GEEM , THEOOOREJ.VVATTEN8ERG VILLAGE MANAGER JOHN FULTON DIXON VILLAGE CLERK CAROL A- FIELDS KtE LE~SE ..,.. Village of Mount: Prospect: 100 S. Emerson Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056 MINUTES EXECUTIVE SESSION Phone: 708 / 392-6000 MOUNT PROSPECf VILLAGE BOARD Fax: 708 /392-6022 AND ELK GROVE TOWNSHIP RURAL FIRE PROTEcrION DISTRICf TRUSTEES JANUARY 30, 1990 The Executive Session was called to order at 7:38 p.m., in the Trustees' Room of Village Hall. Present at the Executive Session were: Mayor Gerald Farley; Trustees Ralph Arthur, Mark Busse, Timothy Corcoran, Leo Floros and George Van Geem. Absent from the Executive Session was Trustee Theodore Wattenberg. Also present was Village Manager John Dixon, Fire Chief Edward Cavello and Village Attorney James Stucko. Present from the Elk Grove Township Rural Fire Protection District were: Trustees Marianne Sheridan, Dallas Ulbrich and George Taylor and District Attorney Richard Cowen. Mr. Cowen presented a settlement and negotiation document to be discussed, however, he wished it to be off-the record and not discoverable or to be used in the lawsuit in any which way or manner. He then continued to explain why there was a lawsuit. He was not the attorney for the District when the Agreement was signed. He came on Board in October of 1989. The Board of Trustees of the Fire Protection District asked him to review the contract and respond to questions raised by the Trustees. 1. How was it possible that the District can enter into an Agreement that commits them to a maximum tax levy? 2. Is it legal for them to enter into the contract which prohibits them from any future lawsuits? 3. Their interpretation was that the Agreement virtually made Trustees useless, gave them nothing to do for the following 40 years and they wished to explore whether this was legal or not. Mr. Cowen then went on to explain that the contract was forced on the District. The District Trustees felt a responsibility to protect the firemen who were personally working for the District and that there was no item in the Agreement that did this. Mr. Cowen researched the law, looked at the contract and felt that there were several legal issues that were of question. He then emphasized that the issue to protect the firefighters is not the focus of the litigation. Attorney Cowen outlined the issues: ,.. 1. The law clearly does not allow an elected body to surrender their prerogatives. 2. The law does not permit governmental bodies to have to levy the maximum tax for 40 years and they clearly, in his opinion, gave up their rights in this agreement to sue. Mr. Cowen felt that the establishment of the tax clearly would bring in more money than .' was needed in order to provide the services and this was a concern of his. 3. He further explained that there was a legal issue of whether or not the contract was legally adopted. 4. It is a legal issue as to whether or not, in fact, the District was dissolved by taking this action. Mr. Cowen then went on to explain the lawsuit was not about the level or skill of fire fighting response by either AES or the Village Fire Department. It is not a question of the abilities but a question of the response time. He then stated that both sides agree that the emergency services provided by the Village or the District are competent and are not in question. ,. Mr. Cowen then went on to explain that there was a recent Court case' concerning a boundary dispute between the Villages of Lisle and Woodrldge. The Court voided the contract even though the other side performed certain functions in reliance of the content in the agreement being valid. The District thinks there are serious legal questions and indicated that the Village's legal counsel will probably say to the contrary. Mr. Cowen also stated that he thought there would be legal challenges and further legal costs in the future if this lawsuit would clearly indicat.e whether the contract is clear or not. The District indicated that they were prepared to offer items for a workable contract. The District is willing to pursue solutions to save litigation costs for all parties. Mr. Cowen then handed out a two~page document, eight points, indicating possible settlement discussion points. Attorney Stucko responded that we were not here to engage in a legal debate and that the Village could review the items that had just been handed out in a caucus. Attorney Cowen then emphasized statement number eight in order for clarification purposes. The effective date would be at a point in time after United Airlines is no longer in the District. He further stated that as long as United Airlines is in the District, there are sufficient funds and if they were to annex, there would be litigation similar to the Waycinden action in the past which he emphasized the District won. The District will not battle the annexation of United Airlines with this Agreement. The Village would take over services one year after the annexation of United Airlines into the Village. The District would retain the right to fight any other annexations in this area that would erode the tax base. ,... Trustee Van Geem then asked why are we going into a caucus, why couldn't we just discuss the matters in front of the Fire Protection District Trustees. Attorney Stucko advised that under the lawyer/client privilege basis, that these items could be reviewed in a caucus and go through each of the items to explore its ramifications. Trustee Van , Geem emphasized that the Village did not enter into this Agreement in order to make a profit but to give the best service possible to all of the residents and businesses in the District. There then was a recess for the purpose of a caucus by the Village Board The Village Board met and caucused for one hour. The Executive Session meeting was reconvened at 9:00 p.rn. Mayor Farley asked Attorney Stucko to respond where upon Attorney Stucko stated that since the Village has just received the items before them, they wished to review them further and take them under advisement and respond in a short period of time. He also indicated as the attorney for the Village that he was authorized to expedite the lawsuit. It was established that the Village would respond to the Fire Protection District on or before February 9. The Executive Session was adjourned at 9:01 p.m. JFD /rcw Respectfully submitted, ~'.~QS0-1- JOHN FULTON DIXON Village Manager