Park District Sues Firm Over Water on Tennis Courts

MOKENA, IL - The Mokena Park District has sued a local architect over two projects including one in which a set of tennis courts in the Fox Ridge subdivision has endured an excess of surface water and is in need of a resurfacing.

But the owner of the Frankfort-based Olivieri Brothers claims the suits are “baseless” and “politically motivated” because he is seeking a seat on the park district’s board of directors in the April election.

The park district issued a press release last week informing the public of ongoing litigation between them and the firm. In one lawsuit, they seek $50,000 in damages from the Olivieri Brothers, Matthew Paving, Inc. and Perm-a-Seal to resurface and re-grade the courts at Fox Ridge “so that water properly drains off and does not accumulate on the surface of the court.”

“Water accumulates on the tennis courts after heavy rain and does not drain off,” according to the district release. “This in turn has caused cracking on the surface of the courts rendering the courts difficult to play on and ultimately, a safety hazard.”

The park district seeks a separate $268,820 sum from the Olivieri Brothers for an alleged breach of contract associated with the Yunker Farm/Oaks expansion project.

The district claims the firm went against a contract by submitting a different set of construction documents to the site plan and architectural review committee than they already had to the village permitting committee.

John Olivieri, owner of the Olivieri Brothers and a candidate for a seat on the Mokena Park District board this year, says none of the allegations are true and the lawsuit is only being brought forth because he is running for a board seat and has been critical of current leadership’s use of money.

“Everything is baseless,” he said. “They are suing for every change order and blaming everything on the architect… They obviously don’t want me on the park board because I speak my mind and they only brought this on after I announced my candidacy.”

Both counts the park district filed are currently in mediation, which is required before any official lawsuit can be filed. But the two sides also can’t agree on whether one is unnecessarily stalling the process.

The park district said in its release that they are informing the public of the litigation because Olivieri’s legal representative has stated “that the arbitration filed against it would be dismissed if the slate of candidates of which John Olivieri is part, prevails in the April election.”

“If a new board is sworn in after the election and the mediation is inexplicably cancelled and the arbitration demand withdrawn by the new board of commissioners, the Park District would like the taxpayers and patrons of the Mokena Community Park District to be fully aware of the nature of the litigation against Olivieri Brothers.”

The Olivieri Brothers are represented by attorney Jonathan Freilich of Schiff Hardin, LLP. He says there is no attempt on their part to stall until after the election.

“The park district knows full well that they are in mediation and we are trying to settle with them and the mediator is handling it,” Freilich said. “We have fully participated in the mediation and have met all deadlines. The mediator has a set schedule and we have fully cooperated.”

Freilich also disputes a portion of the park district’s release that states the Olivieri Brothers have alleged in a third-party suit that DesignTek - a local engineering firm - drew faulty plans for the tennis courts which did not allow for water to drain from the courts.

The attorney said that a third-party suit was filed, but the Olivieri Brothers’ assertion is that the plans were not faulty and that they would only seek a sum of money from DesignTek if a judgment were made in favor of the Park District.

“We do not believe the designs were faulty and do not believe the park district claims have any merit,” Freilich said. “The complaint against DesignTek was only made if Olivieri were to be found liable. (In that case) we would seek reimbursement, but we do not believe they were faulty design plans.”

Mike Selep, executive director of the Mokena Park District, said it was the board’s decision to move forward with the lawsuits and that a number of people approached the district about the standing water at the Fox Ridge tennis courts.

“It is a safety concern and an additional challenge because it degrades the court quicker,” he said, noting that construction would need to take place to fix the problems that still exist.

“We’ve heard from different groups, citizens and those from our own park district who share the concern for safety and the long-term impact on our courts,” he added.

But the timing of the lawsuits - in the heat of the 2017 election season - is telling, Olivieri said. The tennis courts at the Fox Ridge subdivision were built about five years ago.

“For them to wait five years to file a lawsuit is interesting,” said Olivieri, who says he has “never before seen a municipality or business talk about litigation in the press” while the matter remains in mediation.

It’s also a first for the Olivieri Brothers to be named as defendants in a lawsuit.

“In 29 years having done about 2,000 projects, 280 new buildings and having over 1,200 clients we have never been sued,” he said. “Now it’s a 2 for 1.”

Olivieri claims his firm met the slope requirements in the Fox Ridge project as outlined by the Tenants Association and has emails from the park executive director at the time “saying it was fine.”

“We did them to the specifications of which we were told,” he said. “That claim is completely baseless and this is all a game they are playing.”

The “game” - according to Olivieri - is that the current park district leadership “likes to sue a lot.”

Part of Olivieri’s criticism includes statistics that show the park district paid about $58,000 in attorney fees last year. Olivieri claims other nearby park districts of similar sizes only spend about $14,000 a year.

He says the spending by the park district in general needing to come down is part of the reason he is seeking a board seat.

But “the board felt it necessary to make public” the nature of the lawsuit because of that same possible change in leadership, Selep said.

“We want to make sure projects are done in the best interests of our taxpayers,” he said. “We will support looking into problems with these projects, finding the company responsible for those challenges and holding them accountable.”

Photo submitted by the Mokena Park District