THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2006
$1 Million...And Counting?
It has cost Park Ridge taxpayers nearly $1 million to defend three lawsuits filed against the city in the past year by Charles Baldacchino and the Summit Square Retirement Home, city officials revealed this week.
The number could go over the $1 million mark, since two of the suits are being appealed.
In June, 2005, Baldacchino, a resident of Summit Square, filed suit, claiming that the city violated state laws and its own zoning code in the redevelopment agreement with PRC Partners for the upgrade of Uptown. This suit was dismissed for Baldacchino's lack of legal standing, and that ruling is being appealed.
In September, 2005, Summit Square also filed a similar suit, alleging the same complaints and also that the rights and safety of its residents were being ignored by the city. The city and Summit Square settled out of court at a cost of $200,000 for the construction of additional facilities at the retirement home. This amount if not included in these cost figures, however, since this settlement was related to an earlier agreement between the city and Summit Square.
Two months ago, Baldacchino filed a second lawsuit, alleging that the city's guarantee of part of a loan by LaSalle Bank to PRC for construction of a part of the Uptown project (made necessary, the city says, by the first Baldacchino lawsuit) was illegal. A judge refused to allow this suit to be filed and an appeal of that ruling is pending.
The city says the costs include $34,400 in direct litigation expenses responding to the Baldacchino suits, $772,393 in extra costs for steel and concrete due to construction delays caused by the lawsuits, $79,200 in interest charges for a $3 million loan to purchase the Summit Mall property, that became necessary because of the litigation, and $61,800 in additional interest charges on a $4.3 million loan for purchase of the Bredemann property on which closing was delayed by the lawsuits.