Did Area Sewer Agency Break State Law?

BURR RIDGE, IL — The sewer agency that serves portions of eastern DuPage County may have violated the state's open meetings law when it laid off three of its employees last month. The board for the Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District unanimously voted on separation agreements with the three workers. But the board gave no notice to the public that it would vote on the layoffs, as required under the state Open Meetings Act. The issue was not on the agenda.

In an interview Thursday, Flagg Creek's executive director, James Liubicich, said the district followed the guidance of its attorneys in how it handled the layoffs. He said the board needed to make a decision quickly because of a loss in income and added expenses. The front-line supervisors, he said, knew about the possibility of layoffs, but the public did not.

However, Ben Silver, an attorney with the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center, said the issue was not even a close call.

"This definitely violates the Open Meetings Act in my opinion," he said in an interview. "They have to have the general subject matter of any final vote on the agenda."

On Thursday, Patch called the board's vice president, Barbara McGoldrick, who did not want to talk about anything related to the district.

"What are you calling me for?" she asked.

Asked about the layoffs, she cut off the reporter's question and said, "I'm not discussing this with you. You'll have to discuss this with the people at Flagg Creek."

She then said, "Bye now," and hung up.

Last week, Patch got a similar response from the board's president, Herbert Stade, who has served on the board for more than three decades. Questioned about the layoffs, Stade asked a reporter twice, "Why are you asking me?"

He then said it was a business decision and hung up.

The board's third member, Thomas Walsh, could not be reached for comment.

The board made its decision on the layoffs after a closed session concluded about 11 a.m. April 10. Within an hour, Burr Ridge police were on hand outside the facility while the agency laid off the employees. No problems occurred.

Liubicich said officers were asked to show up because front-line supervisors had concerns "that the individuals involved had violent tendencies." The employees, he said, were given "generous" severance packages.

Under the Open Meetings Act, public bodies can consider matters not on the agenda, but courts have ruled they cannot take action on such issues, according to the attorney general's open meetings guide. In 2002, an appeals court voided a final action taken in an open meeting because the item was not included on the agenda, the guide said.

In Illinois, members of public boards must take Open Meetings Act training. Flagg Creek's three board members are chosen by the state representatives and senators in the district. Two of the board's three members receive health insurance through the district. It's rare for board members in any local government entity to get insurance through their part-time positions. Most have full-time jobs.

Flagg Creek's board positions are well paid compared to those in other entities. While Flagg Creek board members make $17,520 a year, the Burr Ridge mayor gets $6,000 and village trustees $3,000. Under state law, school board members are unpaid.

If you just count the monthly meetings as the work Flagg Creek board members do, then they pull in $1,460 each time. That amounts to $24 a minute if a meeting lasts an hour.

But board members in such situations often point to the homework they do before meetings and their dealings with constituents.

In Flagg Creek's case, the board members probably have few interactions with constituents. That's because the agency does not furnish their contact information on the website and informed Patch it would need to file a records request to get it. In any case, two of the three board members, Stade and McGoldrick, seemed puzzled when contacted that anyone would call them about Flagg Creek's issues.

The layoffs reduced the agency's head count to 30, from 33.

Liubicich said the agency is seeing a loss of revenue because commercial customers, which make up at least 40 percent of usage, are using far less because of the pandemic.

Also, Liubicich said, the Illinois Tollway is requiring pipelines be moved as a result of the Interstate 294 project, which will cost Flagg Creek $5 million. And state-mandated phosphorus removal will cost another $4 million, plus a half million in annual operations and maintenance spending.

The agency serves all or parts of Elmhurst, Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Darien, Willowbrook and Oak Brook, among other towns.