LGP Trustees Accept Grant Money for Public Works Facility Following Heated Debate

Following a lengthy history of La Grange Park's Public Works Facility Project, a heated debate and a failed motion to postpone the vote, La Grange Park's Village Board voted 4-3 to accept $600,000 in grant money to use toward a project to rebuild the deteriorating public works garage.

Trustees Marshall Seeder, Rimas Kozica and Susan Storcel voted against accepting the grant money. Village President Jim Discipio voted in favor of accepting the money along with trustees Scott Mesick, Patricia Rocco and Lavelle Topps.

Village Manager Julia Cedillo began the discussion with a presentation on the history of the project, which dates back to 2006.

Since 2006, the project has gone through many phases, ranging from partial repair of the facility for nearly $400,000 to building a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED-certified building at a cost of $6.7 million.

Seeder Worried About Risk

At an October 2010 work session, part of the building and replace the building's oldest section at a cost of $1.2 million. The board has budgeted $600,000 towards the project, and accepting the additional $600,000 in grant money would cover the project's cost, trustees who voted in favor argued.

Trustees opposed to the motion said the scope of the project was too broad, and with only preliminary estimates on the cost of the project, it risked spending far more. , Seeder argued that accepting the grant money was the same as approving the project outright, because the village would be on the hook to cover any additional expenses.

“We are being asked to commit to a project," Seeder said. "I don’t want to see the money forfeited, [but] I don’t want to commit to a project that is so open ended."

Seeder pushed for the board to take additional time to move forward with a second architectural study to get a better idea of the costs. Kozica agreed and asked how much time the board had left before it had to accept the funds, or lose them.

Cedillo told board members that the paperwork would need to be processed by March 1, which meant a deadline of Feb. 17. She added that she was unsure how long it would take to get updated prices on the preliminary figures, or to get more detailed plans and an estimate.

Topps said he felt uncomfortable with risking losing the funding by waiting any longer, and said he was ready to go ahead with accepting the funds that night.

President Calls for Recess as Debate Overheats

In public comments at the meeting, five residents stood to voice support that trustees accept the funding and complete the project, which had been drawn out too long. They said safety of the workers, as well as their appreciation for the good job done by public works employees was among their reasons for urging the board to move forward and accept the funds.

The discussion of the project's history, in particular, was heated between board members. However, Discipio had to call for a five-minute recess after Trustee Kozica began directing his comments at residents in the audience who he felt had disrespected him in their public statements.

"As soon as they respect me, I’ll respect them back," Kozica said to the president, who said he would not tolerate Kozica's remarks towards audience members.

A Move to Table

Following the break, trustees largely reiterated their positions before Seeder called for a motion to table the vote until more detailed information on the estimated cost of the project could be provided. His vote to table the motion was voted down 4-3 with the village president breaking the split. Trustees then voted along the same lines to allow Discipio to accept the funding.

"The time has come when we need to move forward on this," Discipio said before the board adjourned. "We can look at the negatives all we want, but that doesn’t help us today or help our employees.”