Settlement On La Grange Flooding Rejected: Official

LA GRANGE, IL – On TV, most cases result in trials. But in the real world, trials are a rarity.

Yet Village President Mark Kuchler said he expects a trial to happen with Hanson Aggregates Quarry in neighboring McCook. The quarry is blamed for flooding on the village's south side.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Kuchler said the village's lawyers recently contacted Hanson Aggregates about whether it wanted to settle before the July 18 trial. The company, he said, appeared uninterested.

That means the trial is happening in less than 100 days, he said.

"We'll be giving a countdown until the trial date," Kuchler said.

A year ago, the village hired the Chicago-based law firm, Tabet, DiVito & Rothstein, saying it specialized in trials.

After major flooding last June, the firm said it aimed to get a trial date in the first quarter of this year in Cook County Circuit Court. July 18 is in the third quarter.

In 2015, the village's voters approved going into debt for the 50th Street storm sewer project, but that hinges on a successful outcome in the litigation.

Some residents are upset that the village is relying on legal matters to solve the flooding problem, contending officials should consider short-term solutions.

The village is trying to install a drainage pipe across the quarry's property, alleging the quarry cut the former pipe in the early 1990s in violation of an easement. The south side has been suffering flooding for years.

Recently, Kuchler said, La Grange officials met with the village's engineering firm, Rosemont-based Charles B. Burke Engineering, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District about possible solutions beyond the 50th Street project.

"Flooding remains our top priority," Kuchler said.

Kuchler said he also recently walked in a local neighborhood with Cook County Board member Frank Aguilar, who has spoken out about stormwater issues. They spoke with residents about flooding.

"Flooding was on the top of so many residents' lists," Kuchler said. "(Aguilar) said he is taking that back to the Cook County Board. He is working to secure funding."

Patch left a message for comment with a spokesman for Hanson Aggregates.