Homer Glen Mayor George Yukich said assets, property and equipment that belonged to the Homer Township road district were transferred to the village Monday after road district and village officials signed closing papers and submitted them to the Will County Recorder of Deeds.
The action came after a circuit court ruling allowing the transfer, a decision the Homer Township Board is appealing.
The village offered to take care of 18 miles of roads in the unincorporated Homer Township through an intergovernmental agreement, but outgoing township Supervisor Pam Meyers refused, Yukich said. As a result, the village is leaving enough assets for the township to maintain those roads, he said.
Meyers said the township board agreed to file an appeal to continue the case, so the incoming township board and incoming Homer Glen Village Board can decide how best to proceed.
Village officials announced last year they were working with township Highway Commissioner Mike DeVivo on the transfer so Homer Glen could create its own public works department and maintain its own roads. Homer Glen has relied on the township road district through an intergovernmental agreement to maintain about 135 miles of roads, but the agreement could be canceled with a year’s notice, village officials said.
Village officials said residents have already paid for the township road district assets, so it wouldn’t make sense to buy the same equipment again.
The township board responded by saying the village cannot simply take property owned by the road district. In December, the township board filed a lawsuit in Will County Circuit Court maintaining the road district belongs to and is funded by all township residents, which includes residents in the unincorporated areas as well as portions of Lockport, New Lenox and Lemont.
Will County Circuit Court Judge John C. Anderson ruled April 7 in favor of the village and road district, writing “the Court finds that the highway commissioner is statutorily authorized to transfer real and personal property, belonging to the road district, to the village.”
However, Anderson prohibited the transfer from taking place for 10 days to give time for the township to appeal. The township sought an additional 14-day extension, but that motion was denied.
The deadline to prohibit the transfer of property expired at noon Saturday, Homer Glen village administrator Matt Walsh said.
The township has asked the appellate court to reconsider and to prohibit the transfer of property while the matter was under consideration. The appellate court on Monday denied that motion so the transfer of property is allowed to take place, Walsh said.
Township attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer said the case is far from over. She said the township board would need a two-thirds majority to approve the transfer, and the matter has not come before the township board.
In the appeal, township attorneys wrote that because road districts do not have legislative bodies, the closest legislative body a road district has is the township board, which votes to approve the district’s budgets and levies.
Homer Glen and the road district “are interpreting the trial court’s ruling to provide that the highway commissioner is his own ‘legislative body’ for the road district and that he can approve a transfer resolution by vote of himself,” township attorneys said.
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Krafthefer said the transfer that the court referenced also only applies to real estate and not trucks or other equipment.
The appeal also notes that the case sets a precedent that highway commissioners can effectively abolish road districts by giving away all of their assets.
Meanwhile, the village plans to proceed with the creation of the public works department as the township appeals the lower court’s decision, Walsh said. A decision from the appellate court could take six to eight months, Walsh said.
Walsh said the village is confident that it would win an appeal, but village staff hopes that the newly elected township board would drop the appeal.
Employees of the township road district will now be considered village employees, Yukich said.
Township Highway Commissioner Mike DeVivo, whose term expires next month, said he feels the transfer of stewardship of the road department’s assets is the right thing to do.
“In my heart, I know this benefits all 40,000 residents of this community,” DeVivo said. “They elected me to serve them, and I think every resident in Homer Township will benefit from this transfer. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have embarked on this journey.”
DeVivo did not seek reelection in April.
DeVivo said he has been working toward a seamless transfer and ensuring services were continued without disruption. DeVivo said he requested that the village hire all township road district employees.
“It’s a machine,” he said of his workers. “You can’t take parts out of it and expect it to work.”
DeVivo said he also worked with newly elected Homer Township Highway Commissioner Brent Porfilio so that he is prepared when he assumes the position next month.
“What is left behind will make the Homer Township Road District the most well-equipped and well-funded road district in the state of Illinois by far,” De Vivo said.
Incoming township Supervisor Steve Balich, who defeated Meyers in the April election, said his primary concern is that the township has enough equipment and supplies necessary to maintain the 18 miles of unincorporated roadways without raising taxes or having to buy new equipment.
He said he has been disappointed that Homer Glen residents are paying fees for township, village and road district attorneys.
The village is leaving the township two snowplow/dump trucks, a pickup truck and some miscellaneous smaller equipment and will allow use of a portion of one of the highway department’s building. The village also plans to also “reasonably share equipment” with the township road district, Walsh said.
Walsh said Homer Glen residents should not see any decrease in services and the village is looking for new ways to improve efficiency.
Meyers said she does not believe the equipment left is adequate to maintain 18 miles of roads. The unincorporated residents are entitled to the same services they have been receiving, and right now, there is not a good plan in place to serve them, Meyers said.
“Their main form of government is the township,” Meyers said. “Someone has to represent them.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.