Burr Ridge's Secrecy Pact With Fortune 500 Firm

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge may have had a reason for keeping constituents out of the loop on a major development in town – a nondisclosure agreement.

Patch reported last week about the Burr Ridge Park District's "Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement" with CNH Industrial, a Fortune 500 company.

Through Patch's public records request, Burr Ridge on Thursday released its own such agreement with the company, which is selling its 110-acre property at 6900 Veterans Boulevard.

Village Administrator Evan Walter signed the three-year agreement on Sept. 28, 2021, five months before the park district's pact. The Village Board never approved it. The document was on CNH Industrial's letterhead.

CNH Industrial is selling its property to Bridge Industrial, which plans commercial buildings and townhomes.

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 true. 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.)

In an email to Walter and Mayor Gary Grasso on Thursday, Patch asked whether the confidentiality pact drove the decision to keep the development a secret from residents.

Walter did not respond, while Grasso did not give a direct answer.

"Bridge has submitted a proposal for Village consideration," the mayor said. "It’s on the website and will go through normal channels and village procedures."

Patch then asked whether the village has entered nondisclosure agreements with other companies. He did not answer.

On Monday night, the village's Plan Commission plans to review Bridge Industrial's proposal for the property.