Post by title1parent on Apr 9, 2008 5:48:12 GMT -5
Brodie trust attorney files suit to make D204 buy land
District: Complaint has no merit
April 9, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
An attorney for the Brodie trust wants a judge to rule that Indian Prairie School District 204 can't just walk away from its condemnation lawsuit because it doesn't like the ruling it received.
He wants the judge to rule that District 204 must purchase the Brach-Brodie property for the jury-determined price of $31 million.
But District 204's lawyer said such a ruling would have "no basis in the law whatsoever."
In the complaint filed Monday, Steve Helm, attorney for the trust, argued there are two reasons the district should be required to purchase the remaining 55 of the 80 acres at 75th Street and Route 59 that it originally selected as the location of Metea.
First, after a 2005 condemnation suit in which the district bought 25 acres from the Brach-Brodie trusts, the two parties agreed the district would purchase the property at the price determined by a jury in the condemnation suit if voters approved a referendum for the third high school, Helm said.
Second, the district said repeatedly during its successful referendum campaign and during the condemnation suit that it would purchase the balance of the Brach-Brodie property and build Metea on the land, Helm said. He is arguing the district shouldn't be able to use any of the $124.7 million that voters gave it unless it is used to build the promised school on the promised site.
Stuart Whitt, an attorney for District 204, said the lawsuit is "ridiculous."
"The eminent domain act, the Illinois state statute, gives any governmental authority the right to have a jury determine the value of the property," Whitt said. "And then we have the right to pay the award or the right to say we're not going to pay the award . ...
"There is nothing in the law - anywhere in the law - that authorizes, that empowers them to force us to buy the property," he said.
Helm is prepared to seek damages if a judge sides with the district.
Helm has said he would seek reimbursement for any reduction in value to trust-owned properties due to the district's condemnation suit.
The Brodie trust also is asking for damages due to the loss of a $40.2 million contract it had with the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust. According to the complaint, the group planned to purchase 71 acres adjacent to the site with the understanding it would work with District 204 to sort out stormwater detention and sewer and water facilities issues.
Whitt said this was never the case. It was District 204 who presented a proposal to PREIT, and PREIT rejected the proposal. So the district stopped talking to PREIT, and eventually decided to pursue different property.
District: Complaint has no merit
April 9, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
An attorney for the Brodie trust wants a judge to rule that Indian Prairie School District 204 can't just walk away from its condemnation lawsuit because it doesn't like the ruling it received.
He wants the judge to rule that District 204 must purchase the Brach-Brodie property for the jury-determined price of $31 million.
But District 204's lawyer said such a ruling would have "no basis in the law whatsoever."
In the complaint filed Monday, Steve Helm, attorney for the trust, argued there are two reasons the district should be required to purchase the remaining 55 of the 80 acres at 75th Street and Route 59 that it originally selected as the location of Metea.
First, after a 2005 condemnation suit in which the district bought 25 acres from the Brach-Brodie trusts, the two parties agreed the district would purchase the property at the price determined by a jury in the condemnation suit if voters approved a referendum for the third high school, Helm said.
Second, the district said repeatedly during its successful referendum campaign and during the condemnation suit that it would purchase the balance of the Brach-Brodie property and build Metea on the land, Helm said. He is arguing the district shouldn't be able to use any of the $124.7 million that voters gave it unless it is used to build the promised school on the promised site.
Stuart Whitt, an attorney for District 204, said the lawsuit is "ridiculous."
"The eminent domain act, the Illinois state statute, gives any governmental authority the right to have a jury determine the value of the property," Whitt said. "And then we have the right to pay the award or the right to say we're not going to pay the award . ...
"There is nothing in the law - anywhere in the law - that authorizes, that empowers them to force us to buy the property," he said.
Helm is prepared to seek damages if a judge sides with the district.
Helm has said he would seek reimbursement for any reduction in value to trust-owned properties due to the district's condemnation suit.
The Brodie trust also is asking for damages due to the loss of a $40.2 million contract it had with the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust. According to the complaint, the group planned to purchase 71 acres adjacent to the site with the understanding it would work with District 204 to sort out stormwater detention and sewer and water facilities issues.
Whitt said this was never the case. It was District 204 who presented a proposal to PREIT, and PREIT rejected the proposal. So the district stopped talking to PREIT, and eventually decided to pursue different property.