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O-12-02 02/25/02VILLAGE OF LEMONT ORDINANCE NO.D AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT, ILLINOIS, AUTHORIZING THE DISMISSAL OF CERTAIN PENDING EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS REGARDING REAL PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE "LIMESTONE DEVELOPMENT PARCEL" AND THE "ANDRYSIAK PARCEL" BY THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT ADOPTED BY THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT This 25th day of February, 2002 Published in pamphlet form by authority of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Lemont, Counties of Cook, Will, and DuPage, Illinois this 25th day of February, 2002. ORDINANCE° -/ • �" AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT, ILLINOIS, AUTHORIZING THE DISMISSAL OF CERTAIN PENDING EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS REGARDING REAL PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE "LIMESTONE DEVELOPMENT PARCEL" AND THE "ANDRYSIAK PARCEL" BY THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont is a statutory municipality organized and existing under the provisions of 65 ILCS 5/1 -1 -1, et seq.; and WHEREAS, the Statutes of the State of Illinois to such matters pertaining provide that municipalities shall have the power to acquire lands and other property, real or personal, or rights or interests therein for the designed purposes set forth in said Statutes; and WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont is desirous of promoting the health, education, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Village of Lemont; and WHEREAS, the real estate legally described in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein is an approximate 26 acre parcel of property located within the Village of Lemont limits and is commonly referred to as the "Limestone Development" parcel; and WHEREAS, the real estate legally described in Exhibit B attached hereto and incorporated herein is an approximately 6 acre parcel lying within the Village of Lemont limits and is commonly referred to as the "Andrysiak" parcel; and WHEREAS, the President and Board of Trustees at the Village of Lemont previously found it advisable, necessary and in the best interest of the citizens of the Village of Lemont to acquire the property legally described in Exhibits A and B for such purposes as authorized and set forth in the Illinois Statutes pertaining to a statutory municipality such as the Village of Lemont, including, but not limited to, utilizing the property for recreational uses and facilities, trails, hiking, camping, boating, fishing, the installation of boat launches and recreational piers, for drainage, flood control and management and such other purposes as provided for in the Statutes of Illinois; and WHEREAS, on March 13, 2000, the Village of Lemont adopted Ordinance No. 0- 12 -00, and on March 27, 2000, the Village of Lemont adopted Ordinance No. 0- 13 -00, said ordinances authorizing initially the negotiations for the acquisition of the aforementioned properties, and ultimately authorizing the acquisition of said proceedings through use of eminent domain proceedings in the Circuit Court of Cook County; and WHEREAS, the Village has, in furtherance of Ordinance Nos. 0 -12 -00 and 0- 13 -00, instituted certain eminent domain proceedings in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, regarding the real property legally described on Exhibits A and B attached hereto and incorporated herein (the "Subject Realty "), which is located in Lemont, Illinois; and WHEREAS, said proceedings are titled Village of Lemont v. Gal Enterprises, Inc. et al., filed under Case No. 00 L 50455 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, and Village of Lemont v. Standard Bank and Trust Company, et al., filed under Case No. 00 L 050323 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (collectively referred to as the "Pending Actions "); and WHEREAS, during the course of said eminent domain proceedings, the property owners have filed numerous requests for document production, numerous Freedom of Information Requests for production of documentation from the Village of Lemont, have contested the sufficiency of document production, have filed a Traverse and Motion to Dismiss, have withdrawn said Traverse and Motion to Dismiss after requiring extensive work by the Village of Lemont, and in general have exercised their defense of the condemnation case in a format which has required an extensive expenditure by the Village of Lemont for attorneys' fees, document production, engineering and land planning expert witness fees, and appraisal witnesses; and WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont is dependent upon receipt of grant money for the overall funding of acquisition and development of the property targeted for acquisition, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs has alerted the Village of Lemont to the fact that said grant monies may not be available to pay for attorney's fees, engineering fees, land planning fees, appraisal fees, and other costs which are being generated by the currently pending litigation; and WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont has retained both land planning and engineering consultants as part of the pending actions, and has received disclosure from the current property owners regarding what they anticipate to be the highest and best use for this property (higher density single family residential redevelopment), anticipating fill of substantial portions of the existing quarries to build additional home sites, and extending access roadways through adjacent properties; and WHEREAS, the consultants retained by the Village of Lemont in the pending actions have indicated that the anticipated and projected costs associated with improving the access, constructing utility extensions and/or private septic systems, and the cost of producing the buildable home sites, inclusive of quarry fill material, exceed the viable and profitable cost of development as projected by the property owners, and as such increase the likelihood that the subject property will be privately maintained in either an extremely low density setting, or an open space use; and WHEREAS, Illinois law permits the Village of Lemont to exercise its discretion to abandon the acquisition, while recognizing that said statutory provisions require that the Village of Lemont pay the reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of the property owners if abandonment is exercised; and WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont, in light of the risk of additional costs, and the potential to have gant monies declared unavailable for payment of said costs, has determined that it is in the best interest of the Village of Lemont to abandon the effort to acquire this property through the use of condemnation; and WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont reaffirms that the acquisition of the properties in question would be desirable, convenient, and in the best interest of the Village of Lemont, should financing and funding become available, or the property become available for purchase at its fair market value in the future. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED, by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Lemont, Illinois, a statutory municipality organized and existing under the provisions of 65 ILCS 5/1 -1 -1, et seq., as follows: Section 1. That the recitals set forth hereinabove are incorporated herein by reference as substantive provisions of this Ordinance. Section 2. That Day & Robert, P.C. is hereby authorized to file a motion voluntarily dismissing the Pending Actions without prejudice. Section 3. That Day & Robert, P.C. is hereby authorized to review whatever petitions for payment of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs are submitted by the property owners, and determine whether or not payment as requested complies with Illinois law, and to report said information, petition, request and findings to the Village of Lemont. Section 4. That all ordinance and resolutions, or parts thereof in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are, to the extent of such conflict, hereby repealed. Section 5. That this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication in pamphlet form as provided by law. PASSED AND APPROVED by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Lemont, Counties of Cook, DuPage and Will, Illinois, on this 25th day of February , 2002 John Benik Debby Blatzer Peter Coules Connie Markiewicz Steven Rosendahl Jeanette Virgilio Attest: AYES Y 1 NAYS PASSED ABSENT IAZZA, Village P CHARLENE SMOLLEN, Village Clerk Approved to Form: Village Attorney Date: