Burr Ridge Trustee In Dark On Secrecy Pact

BURR RIDGE, IL – Until recently, the public did not know about Burr Ridge's 2021 nondisclosure agreement with a Fortune 500 company.

That includes Guy Franzese, an elected village trustee. He said Monday he learned about the pact from a Patch story last week.

The agreement was with CNH Industrial, which was planning to sell its property. Now, a major developer is proposing commercial buildings and townhomes on the 110-acre site.

"In my previous 16 years as a Burr Ridge Plan Commissioner and most recently 11 years as a Burr Ridge Trustee, this is my second experience with a non-disclosure agreement," Franzese said in an email to Patch. "I would say they are not common based on my experience."

Asked about his first experience, Franzese said it was when he learned from Patch's story earlier this month about a similar agreement between CNH and the Burr Ridge Park District. The district's Harvester Park neighbors the company's site.

He declined to say whether he thought the village should have informed him earlier about the confidentiality agreement.

"I cannot comment on that at this time," he said. "I began my research into this issue as of this morning, after I read your article."

Patch emailed the six other trustees about when they learned about the nondisclosure agreement.

Only Trustee Anita Mital responded. She declined to say when she found out about it.

"At this time, I am starting my research," she said.

In a phone interview Thursday, Mayor Gary Grasso said CNH approached the village about the nondisclosure agreement, which Village Administrator Evan Walter signed.

"It seemed rather benign. We ran it by counsel. They said Evan can sign it," Grasso said. "It certainly is rare."

Grasso said the village gets calls from businesses about what they are thinking about doing with their properties. They are often early in the process, so the village doesn't broadcast their plans, he said.

Last summer, the park district's board closed its doors to discuss the proposed development, with the attorney general later finding the board broke the state's open meetings law.

After the meeting, Village Administrator Evan Walter privately accused a park board member of leaking the development's concept to CNH's neighbors. At the time, the plan included a Costco, which neighbors said they opposed.

Last April, Patch emailed Walter to ask whether a Costco was a possibility on the CNH property. He replied that he was unaware of it.

But that wasn't the case. Later public records requests showed that he had been emailing a Costco representative for months about just such a plan. At one point, Walter said a Costco was a must in the development. (Costco was excluded from the proposal submitted to the village recently.)

Walter has not responded to a request for comment on whether the nondisclosure agreement drove the decision to keep Costco and other aspects of the development under wraps from the public.