La Grange Dispute Subject Of Closed Meeting

LA GRANGE, IL – The La Grange Park District board may take action Monday in a dispute over local tennis courts.

But the board has yet to give a legal reason for shutting its doors. Under state law, public bodies must hold most discussions of issues in the open.

On July 1, La Grange School District 105 closed its tennis courts at Catherine Avenue and 53rd Street, This was after the park district ended a 30-year-old agreement to maintain them.

The school district said its insurance company advised it to close the courts until further notice. The district's superintendent, Brian Ganan, said the courts were in bad shape, presenting trip hazards.

On Friday, the park board released its meeting agenda for Monday. It stated it may take action on its intergovernmental agreement with District 105 after a discussion in a closed session.

The board's agenda included a laundry list of seven possible exemptions under the state Open Meetings Act in which it can close its doors. But it does not pinpoint which one it is using for the District 105 agreement.

In a reply to a Patch email, Jenny Bechtold, the park district's executive director, said the board plans to cite the exemptions for litigation and acquisition of real property.

The litigation exemption can be a high hurdle to clear. Last year, the attorney general's office informed Elmhurst School District 205 that it illegally discussed its intergovernmental agreement with the city of Elmhurst behind closed doors. The attorney general said the threat of litigation at some point in the future was too vague.

In May, the park board discussed the tennis courts in an open session. Officials said the district was already struggling to maintain its own facilities without taking care of the tennis courts, which it is leasing.

The meeting minutes gave no indication of an adversarial situation and certainly made no mention of probable litigation.

The minutes stated, "We would like to continue a partnership, but the agreement should be beneficial to both parties."

In a recent interview, Superintendent Ganan also sounded positive.

"We're working with the park district to figure this out. We have had fruitful conversations. We're hoping to have a joint solution very soon," Ganan said.

The tennis courts, which are next to Gurrie Middle School, are not used as part of the district's curriculum.

In early July, a petition to save the tennis courts was posted on Change.org. As of Monday, more than 430 people have signed it.