Western Springs Neighbor Dispute Appears Resolved

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – A long-running dispute over the village's right-of-way between two Western Springs neighbors appears to have been resolved Monday night.

Neighbors Jim Conniff and Ray Swapa live in the 5200 block of Grand Avenue.

Months earlier, they each seemed to agree to pay for a part of the right-of-way – $61,710 from Swapa and $60,307 from Conniff. A long unused village right-of-way is between their houses.

In September, the Village Board approved the deal. Shortly after, Swapa paid up.

But Conniff did not. The village's attorney, Michael Jurusik, said Conniff has spent the last few months "wordsmithing" the agreement.

At the same time, Jurusik said Conniff expressed one reasonable concern. In the agreement, Swapa was to build a sidewalk, with each homeowner covering half the costs.

"Someone could artificially increase the price of the sidewalk," Jurusik said. "(Conniff) doesn't want to be subject to someone with a side deal with a contractor who isn't going to be honest in their pricing."

The agreement now limits Conniff's costs to $12,500, but officials doubted that it would be anywhere near that much.

John Griffin, a contractor who has been hired for a project on Swapa's property, said the delays are wasting both his and Swapa's time.

"We've had a couple of contracts fall out because of this," Griffin said. "Ray wanted to sell his house 18 months ago. Why is it being held hostage?"

Conniff said both he and Swapa should have a say in choosing the contractor.

"Why does that matter?" Trustee James Tyrrell asked.

"It matters because we each pay 50 percent. We should get the lowest price," Conniff said.

Conniff suggested the village choose the contractor. That idea was rejected by Jurusik, who said the village didn't want to choose a private contractor for a private sidewalk.

Trustee Amy Avakian said, "This is a long time. I think we just sign it or move on and sell it to whoever wants to pay the full price."

"We do want to get this done tonight," Village President Heidi Rudolph said.

"As do I," Conniff said.

The village said all parties have signed the agreement.