No Illegal Burr Ridge Park Meetings: Official

BURR RIDGE, IL – A top official in the Burr Ridge Park District said Monday the agency's board has followed state law with its closed sessions on real estate.

In recent months, the park board has closed the doors under an exception to the state Open Meetings Act for the sale or lease of real estate.

Last week, Patch obtained an early August email from Burr Ridge Village Administrator Evan Walter to the Village Board, which is separate from the park district. In it, Walter indicated the park board held a closed meeting to discuss improvements to Harvester Park in relation to a nearby proposed Costco development.

Walter did not take issue with the closed session, but said a board member distributed a document about the Costco plan from that meeting in a breach of "closed session decorum."

By Walter's description, the closed meeting seemed to be a violation of the open meetings law. The board must discuss park improvements and nearby developments in the open.

In an interview Monday, Jim Pacanowski, the park district's director, said he was not at liberty to publicly discuss the closed meeting's specifics. He also said he would not discuss Walter's email, other than to say Walter was a "highly credible source."

Under the law, Pacanowski said the park board could discuss the lease of real estate and easements. He noted a ComEd power station was next to Harvester Park. The park includes an easement, he said.

"There's nothing hidden about what we would like to do with Harvester Park," he said, adding that it's one of the best parks in the region.

When Patch looked into the closed meeting issue last week, it found the district had not posted the board's meeting minutes in five months. Patch also could find no past agendas on its website.

In the interview, Pacanowski said the lack of meeting minutes online was a violation of the Open Meetings Act. He said that when Patch reported the lack of minutes on the website late last week, the district posted the missing ones.

"I will accept responsibility for it not being there," he said. "As soon as I heard about it, I realized we couldn't do that. We have to post them. We take open meetings seriously."

Pacanowski said the district would also post more meeting agendas than the most recent one.

The village has been notified of a developer's plans for the old CNH property, which is near Harvester Park. The proposal includes Costco and other businesses, the village said.

Harvester Park was named after International Harvester, CNH's predecessor.