Burr Ridge Park District Secrecy Pact Released

BURR RIDGE, IL – The Burr Ridge Park District on Monday released its "confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement" with CNH Industrial from more than two years ago.

The existence of the three-page document was not publicly known until the district's director, Jim Pacanowski, spoke about it during an interview with Patch on Friday. CNH Industrial is selling its property to developer Bridge Industrial.

The agreement is on the letterhead for CNH Industrial, which owns 110 acres next to the district's Harvester Park in Burr Ridge.

The pact says the parties "desire to share information that is non-public, confidential or proprietary in nature."

Signing the agreement on Feb. 25, 2022, were the district's Pacanowski and E. Jason Omerza, a CNH vice president. Patch could find no evidence that the park board approved the document.

The agreement says it does not apply when the law requires either party to release information. For instance, no such pact could override the Freedom of Information Act.

The agreement states that no provision limits the remedies at law that either party can seek if the other releases what is deemed secret information.

The three-year agreement is set to expire next February. Trade secrets, though, survive after the expiration.

The district released the agreement in response to Patch's Freedom of Information Act request.

Patch also submitted a request to the village of Burr Ridge, which has communicated with CNH and Bridge about the sale.

Mayor Gary Grasso and Village Administrator Evan Walter did not return a message for comment Friday on whether the village signed a confidentiality agreement.